‘Books of Mana’ a tribute to significant Māori writing

A carefully curated reading list of Māori non-fiction books has become the inspiration for a book of its own. Laura Hewson talks with the editors of Books of Mana about what went into the creation of their new book, why it’s needed, and what they hope it will achieve.

Two centuries of Māori non-fiction is being celebrated and explored in a new book from Otago University Press.

'Books of Mana'

Books of Mana: 180 Māori-authored books of significance is edited by the University of Otago’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Māori) Distinguished Professor Jacinta Ruru MNZM FRSNZ (Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui) and Professor Angela Wanhalla FRSNZ (Kāi Tahu), along with Jeanette Wikaira (Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngāpuhi), who has worked in a range of roles at the University and is now the General Manager of Arts, Culture and Recreation for the Dunedin City Council.

“This book has its genesis in a project we called Te Takarangi, which began nearly 10 years ago,” Jacinta says.

“We’re so excited to hold Books of Mana – it’s our deep acknowledgment and gratitude to all who’ve been involved for 200 years in writing and supporting Māori knowledge, hopes and aspirations.”

The Te Takarangi project, which was founded by Jacinta, Angela and Jeanette, centres on a list of 180 Māori-authored non-fiction titles published since the early nineteenth century.

“Books of Mana is our way of celebrating the wisdom of Māori authors and in doing so encouraging all New Zealanders to know better these remarkable works of mana,” Jacinta says.

“One of the drivers that led to us doing this project was to address a misconception that there hasn’t been much Māori-authored non-fiction.

“We were surprised to hear this from many of our Pākehā colleagues. We knew this wasn’t true. So we thought we’d have a go at bringing together a public list of Māori-authored books that had influenced us in our lives.”

In the introduction – titled ‘Books have always been important to us’ – the editors write:

Māori are writers, thinkers and intellectuals. We always have been. Our ancestors, the first people to make these isolated islands in the South Pacific their home, created sense, meaning, stories, rules and histories from the mountains, rivers, forests and coastlines. For generations they recorded their knowledge through karanga, whaikōrero, mōteatea, karakia, pūrākau, waiata and whakataukī.

“Books of Mana is a book about books that tell our stories – Māori stories. Stories that have unending connections to our past, present and future. If we don’t tell our stories, if we don’t write our stories, if we don’t publish our stories, who will?" – Jeanette Wikaira

Books of Mana features essays from the three editors, as well as a range of respected Māori leaders and scholars from across Aotearoa: Maria Bargh, Jacinta Beckwith, Victoria Campbell, Rawinia Higgins, Spencer Lilley, Paul Meredith, Wayne Ngata, Megan Pōtiki, Bridget Reweti, Poia Rewi, Chris Selwyn, Hinekura Smith, Huhana Smith, and Matariki Williams.

“We’ve loved working together to reflect on how this long treasure of Māori writing has shaped our lives. Every chapter brings to life details about these books, from production to why we write and how we write," Jacinta says.

“For example, Wayne Ngata writes about his ancestor Sir Apirana Ngata; Spencer Lilley writes about the legacy role of national and international publishing houses in choosing to publish Māori work; and Huhana Smith and Bridget Reweti discuss the incredible Māori art that features on the front covers of many of these books.”

Angela says while some chapters in the book are academic, others are stories of engagement with reading and writing, of caring for books, and for sharing their knowledge with others, including secondary school students.

“Right from the beginning we knew we wanted the book to build on the six themes that the editors had identified from the first 150 books on the list,” she says.

A poster highlighting one of the themes identified from Te Takarangi’s list of influential Māori-authored non-fiction from the last 200 years.

These themes are: writing in te Reo rangatira (Māori language), kia maumahara (remembering), mana wāhine (powerful women), kia tū pakiri, kia whakaora (resistance, revitalisation), te ao hurihuri (new diversity, frontiers), and ngā toka tūmoana (anchors).

In her essay titled ‘He mihi atu: Acknowledging the past, present and future’, Angela chose book dedications as a creative way to provide insight into why people write and who they write for.

“Dedications and acknowledgements tell readers about the conditions and circumstances under which ideas and books were crafted and who helped make a book possible. Their books are not written alone – the importance of their ancestors is on their shoulders.

“Dedications are where Māori scholars greet the past, acknowledge the whānau and set out pathways for the future. They are important written windows into the intellectual and social world of the writer and, particularly for academic books, show a more emotional side.”

Angela’s second essay focuses on a research area close to her heart: making mana wāhine visible.

“Mana wāhine experiences are often not given much weight or are overlooked in scholarship. Te Takarangi shows that Māori women have never been silent. We’ve been writing about our experiences since the nineteenth century.

“Maraea Mōrete’s short memoir was published in 1887, but it was not until 1938 that the first full-length book authored by a Māori woman was published by Makereti Papakura. Since the 1990s, Māori women have published on a range of issues, from critiques of colonialism and its impacts, to sovereignty and the search for justice, to personal journeys of reclaiming land, language and identity.

“Writing and telling our stories, our way, is an expression of mana wāhine, of pride, strength and empowerment.”

Jeanette, who first started working at the University in 2002 in an archives role at the Hocken, has spent much of her career curating, caring for and researching taonga Māori collections.

“Equally important for me is how taonga Māori collections are made accessible to Māori communities, whether those are cultural artefacts or books.”

Books are taonga and Books of Mana exemplifies this, Jeanette says.

“Books of Mana is a book about books that tell our stories – Māori stories. Stories that have unending connections to our past, present and future. If we don’t tell our stories, if we don’t write our stories, if we don’t publish our stories, who will?

“For me, story sovereignty sits at the heart of Books of Mana and speaks to the importance of story for Māori communities. Communities whose stories have historically been buried and marginalised through processes of colonisation and this continues today, which is why Māori-authored books matter.”

There will be a special Ōtepoti celebration for Books of Mana on 12 February at the Hocken Library.

“We would love people to come along and celebrate with us,” Angela says.

“Books of Mana is a window into an amazing collection of Māori writers who spent a lot of passion, care and love on their words and this book is an acknowledgement of that.

“Something I really hope is that people will pick it up and be inspired to read one book on the list. I’d also like to challenge them to read at least one book on a topic they might not know much about. There’s so much beautiful writing on show.”

Jacinta hopes those who read the book will find ways in their personal and professional lives to love these taonga books as much as they do.

“As the reader moves to close Books of Mana, we wish for their mind to be full with curiosity, and their heart to be full with aroha, just as ours are, for the work of these Māori authors who have turned to inscribing knowledge into written form for us to know and learn from.”

For Jeanette it always comes back to whānau.

“When I think about hope, I always return to the source, my parents, siblings, aunties, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and mokopuna – the whānau, for they are the source of all the stories that matter to me.

“I’ll be sending copies of Books of Mana home to Te Wharekura o Manaia on the Coromandel – the kura Māori school that is growing the next generation of my whānau – and my hope is that our mokopuna grow up reading and knowing that the long tradition of Māori stories will never end.