Guest Lecture teaching about the film, Whale Rider

 Kia ora everyone,

The weather has been pretty good over the last week. It’s weird – some days, it is relatively warm, but the snow randomly starts falling on other days. The reality of New England weather during this time of the year.

I have two weeks left in Boston before I head to Amherst for a month. I'm going to miss this place a lot when I leave in early March. 

The entrance of the student centre at UMASS Boston

My first experience was as a guest lecturer in the paper Indigenous Film and Critical Visual Studies at UMASS Boston. It was a diverse class with around 30 students. It was a level 3 paper. We looked at the themes of the movie, Whale Rider, directed by Nikki Caro. This movie is one of my top 3 Aotearoa New Zealand movies. It came out while I was a student in high school, and I remember watching it at the cinema. This was the first I had heard of the legend of Paikea beforehand. I remember, at the time, it was different seeing Māori as the main characters in a movie. Over the years during my teaching career, I had used Whale Rider as a teaching tool in my year nine te reo Māori and Social Studies classes.

Whale Rider based on the book by Witi Ihimaera

The university students in the paper had never been to Aotearoa New Zealand, so I knew it would be an exciting experience beforehand. I briefly introduced Te Ao Māori to the students. We looked at a map of Aotearoa, and its connection to the stories of Maui (Te Ika a Maui and Te Waka a Maui). We looked at the Marae – its purpose and relation to the movie. We looked at the concept of whānau – it’s more than just a family but rather inclusive of community which we see in the film with Whangara being the primary setting of Whale Rider.

I took this photo of the whare in Whangara in 2021

We looked at tradition vs modernity, a major theme of the movie. The role of Paikea’s grandfather, Koro was to continue to uphold the traditions of his ancestors, while Paikeha was constantly challenging that notion through his actions. So a question we discussed in groups was how do you both preserve your culture and adapt to a modern world? Are tradition and progress opposites? How does making Whale Rider help us think about these questions?

Another theme we looked at was relationships. The importance of whānau and community were paramount in the film. I asked the class what their favourite relationship in the movie was. I then expressed that my favourite relationship was between Pai and her uncle, Rawiri. I then asked the class what relationship they would have picked as their favourite. Only one student put their hand up. I talked about how I liked the cheekiness of Uncle Rawiri, who taught Paikea the art of taiaha, knowing that would be against the wishes of her Koro. I also liked how this allowed Rawiri to rethink his health/fitness goals and gave him a reason to think about his hauora/oranga again.

Uncle Rawiri played by Grant Roa

I had to admit that I hadn’t read the book Witi Ihimaera wrote in the late 1980s. Some people argue that the book is too different from the movie. I recall Witi Ihimaera saying that he wrote the book when his daughter asked him why there were no female superheroes in any books.

Another student asked if the movie truly depicts Aotearoa New Zealand. I replied that it depends. The community, strength of relationships and a strong Māori cultural presence are a true reflection of many small towns. I liked the movie because it tells a positive story about our people. It depends on the type of story you want to tell.

Discussion questions with the class 

We also discussed the idea that about the appropriateness of someone outside a community telling stories about that community. This was obvious with the director not being Māori or from the area. The students made good points that Nikki worked with the community, involved all the community as extras in the movie, and created that partnership while making the movie.

Overall, I had fun teaching this class. Next week, I am giving a public lecture about my work with Māori learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. It should be fun!