In a new twist where fiction meets history, Dr Monty Soutar has reimagined the ancestral narratives of his tīpuna in the 1800s through his new book Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment.
The book was launched in Turanga Nui a Kiwa this week - a sequel to Soutar’s 2022 novel Kāwai: For Such a Time as this.
“Te orokohanga o te tāmitanga i roto i a Aotearoa nei i ngā rautau kua hipa, ka kite koe i roto i te pukapuka - te taenga mai o ngā Pākehā tuatahi ki Te Tairāwhiti.”
“Ko o rātau āhua me ngā whakaaro a [ō] tāua tīpuna o taua wā ki a rātau.”
(In this book we see the origin of colonisation here in Aotearoa in centuries past [and] the arrival of Pākehā on the East Coast - what they were like and what the ancestors of the time thought about them.)
Set in 1818, the story focuses on Hine-aute - a granddaughter of a famed warrior, fleeing her kāinga as European colonisation begins in Te Tairāwhiti. She and her whānau navigate the arrival of guns, diseases and a new religion.
“Ngā pū tōriri, arā te flintlock musket, ngā kaipatu tohorā, ngā mihinare me ngā kaihokohoko,” he says.
(The flintlock muskets, whalers, missionaries and traders.)
Despite being a novel, Kāwai is largely based on historical events and places. The novel even features the whakapapa of the story’s characters or tīpuna.
“Kua huri kētia e Monty wētahi o ngā ingoa, engari mēnā ka taea e koe te huri [i] ngā ingoa, [he] hāngai tonu ki ngā ingoa tōtika o ō tātau nei tīpuna,” C Company Trust chairperson, Walton Walker,one of many whānau who supported the launch on Wednesday, said..
“Tērā pea he huarahi anō tēnei, me kī, te taha o te fiction hei hopu i ngā hinengaro o ō tātau nei tamariki. Ahakoa he kōrero paki ēnei, kei roto tonu ngā korero pono.”
(Monty has changed some of the names, but if you [look closely] at the names, [you’ll find that] they are similar to those of our ancestors.)
Perhaps this is another pathway for fiction to grab the attention of our children. Although this is a fictional story, there is still truth in it.)
Walker says the novel may give readers fresh insight to their ancestors’ way of life.
“Ahakoa ngā kōrero kua puta [i] ngā mātanga, [ko] wai tātau te mōhio he aha te āhuatanga o tō rātau nei noho i roto [i] o rātau nei kāinga, pā, aha ake rānei. Engari ko Monty kā pea kei te whakakī haere i ērā wāteatanga o ngā kōrero i roto i tāna pukapuka.”
(Despite the research done by experts, who are we to know what life was like for them in their homes, at the pā and so on? But perhaps Monty will fill these gaps in his book.)
A leading historian, Soutar encourages all to deepen their understanding of Aotearoa’s history.
“Ko te mate kē o te Kāwana, o ngā kaitōrangapū, kāre rātau i te paku mārama ki te hītori o Aotearoa nei i ngā rā onamata.”
“I roto i tēnei pukapuka [ko] ngā mahi hē i pēhia nei ki roto i te iwi Māori i ngā rautau kua hipa.”
(The problem with the government and politicians is that they don’t even understand the history of Aotearoa in those days. In this book are the actions that suppressed Māori in centuries past.)
“Koirā taku tino hiahia te whāki atu ki ngā iwi o Aotearoa - ahakoa Pākehā, Māori - kia mōhio ai rātau ki te hītori o tēnei whenua o Aotearoa nei - kāore tēnei hītori i tīmata i te tau 1840, i te hainatanga mai o te Tiriti o Waitangi. I tīmata mai rā anō. Kia mōhio ai rātau nō tātau katoa tēnei hītori.
(That’s what I want - to tell the people of Aotearoa - Pākehā and Māori - so they know the history of our country. This history didn’t start in 1840 when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed - it started long ago. So they know that this history belongs to us all.)
Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment is available at bookstores nationwide.