“I found myself down in the Hocken Library regularly going through that primary material, the original manuscripts from interviews, or original letters. Lots of them were in Māori and lots of them were in Māori that wasn’t the normal, basic Māori. It was different and some of the language didn’t follow the rules. I started reading in bed at night. I would read page after page of the Williams Dictionary and find new words and look at the difference in meanings. Generally the primary material was couched in an archaic style of Māori which was different to what I was used to hearing. This led me to actually start to understand the manuscript material I was observing.”
He discovered the power of metaphor and patterns in what was an oral language being captured on the page for the first time. “They were full of metaphor and patterns in the way the stories were constructed and the patterns kept repeating across stories. I understand now that they were myth templates and the character of those manuscripts was to aid the orator to relay the story.”
Picture: Tahu Pōtiki with his partner Megan Ellison and their children, Tukitaharaki, Ripeka and Timoti
Kā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha | Canterbury | Christchurch City | 2020-29 | Story is by tangata whenua
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