Kāwai - Monty Soutar

ideal if you're searching for:

• An overview of modern-day Māori literature
• Well-written observations about Māori legend
• An alternative viewpoint on Aotearoa before colonization

Kāwai - for such a time as this

The history of pre-colonial Aotearoa New Zealand is presented in an epic historical adventure in a way that has never been done before. Forced to learn his ancestors' stories, a young Māori man goes back to his family marae on the east coast of the North Island to talk to his elderly grand-uncle, who is the story keeper. The captivating story of the young man's tipuna, the renowned warrior Kaitanga, who inspired the name of his marae's whare puni, is what follows.

Kāwai: For Such a Time as This was written by the respected historian Dr. Monty Soutar, ONZM (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Ngāti Kahungunu). This series explains how colonization shaped Aotearoa New Zealand while also providing a fair assessment of the nation prior to colonization.

Kāwai - Tree of Nourishment

On Te Ika-a-Maui's east coast in New Zealand, it is 1818. Hine-aute, granddaughter of Kaitanga, the renowned warrior, is running through the woods with a priceless but gory souvenir in her fishing net. What follows is a compelling story about a people who are about to undergo significant transformation that will have an impact on many future generations. A whole new world of fear and trouble has been ushered in by the arrival of the Europeans, who also brought guns and exotic diseases. Additionally, they have introduced a new religion that will make Maori doubt everything they have always taken for granted. Hine's strong familial ties are strained, and everything they value is undermined as she and her boys Ipumare and Uha are caught in the crossfire of change.

Kawai: Tree of Nourishment delves deeply into the early effects of colonization on Maori, from raids by war parties armed with muskets to increased internecine warfare; from the arrival of whalers, traders, and Christian missionaries to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. It is sure to leave readers in a state of shock.