Potiki

Roimata and the people who surround her are all Māori, the Indigenous inhabits of the place known as New Zealand, and Potiki is, first and foremost, a story about Indigeneity. It is a story about Māori traditions and history that frequently employs Māori vocabulary as it explores the Tamihana family’s deep connection to the land and their fight to keep it from Mr. Dolman, the wealthy White businessman who wants to develop their beachfront…

When Manu Tamihana turns five, it quickly becomes evident that the local public school isn’t the place for him. His mother Roimata decides to homeschool him, thinking that she’s qualified because she trained as a Western-style schoolteacher. She quickly realizes that her qualifications come from a different source: her connection the stories of the Māori people. Roimata begins to teach Manu with stories, and before she knows it, everyone in the community is sharing their…

Hemi Tamihana frequently tells Roimata, the rest of his family, and others that “everything [they] need is here.” When he reminds others (and himself) of this truth, he invokes the idea that Indigenous people like the Māori lived for centuries by relying on traditional knowledge and skills and taking respectfully from nature’s bounty. That’s a standard he aspires to get back to when he loses his job and reinvigorates the family’s landholdings, turning them…

One of the main themes of the traditional stories Roimata and Toko use to make sense of their experiences is the close relationship between life and death. For the Tamihana family and Māori culture as depicted in the book, the line between the two is porous. The poupou and Granny Tamihana’s photographs keep the living connected to deceased relatives, as do the rituals they perform at the urupa (cemetery) and the family stories that…

Potiki features two disabled characters. Mary, who has an intellectual disability, and Toko, who is sound in mind but has physical differences including congenital damage to his heart and serious mobility issues. Despite their differences, however, Mary and Toko are full members of their community, even if their participation may look different than other people’s. The book emphasizes not their disabilities but their humanity first and foremost. In fact, it suggests that Mary…