Reviews

Where the Rekohu Bone Sings, by Tina Makereti

thissimoneb's review against another edition

4.0

A beautiful book that really shows the complexity & emotion of connecting with your history and the land.

nicolaanaru's review

5.0

 

Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings is the debut novel by Tina Makereti (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Rangatahi, Pākehā and, according to family stories, Moriori descent).  The story is split into three main timelines/narrative arcs - first, the 19th Century story of Mere, a young Māori woman of high standing and her best friend (and possible cousin) Iraia, who is descended from Moriori enslaved peoples.  Interwoven with this narrative is the present-day story of Lula and Bigsy, twins born under mysterious circumstances who have a lot to learn about their past.  And the third strand of this narrative is a Moriori spirit that watches over all of them while they are unable to depart into the afterlife.

Lula and Bigsy’s mother, Tui, dies and the family follows her instructions for a Māori burial at her marae by her estranged whānau.  It comes out that Tui is of Moriori descent, a distinction that her other family members ostracized her for many years ago.  This sets Lula and Bigsy on a quest to grapple with their Moriori ancestry, including inheriting a small property on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) and getting perspectives from the local community.  The siblings have to unpack not just Pākehā guilt, but now Māori guilt, as well as the whakamā of discovering Moriori ancestry in a time when (incorrect) public opinion and history largely denies existence of or disparages Moriori.  Mere and Iraia fall in love, and realizing that this won’t stand under their current class system, run away to Wellington to start their lives together.

Makereti is very skilled in forming a moving story which manages to deftly navigate very sensitive material, and impart a lot of history without making the novel feel like a history textbook, or self-righteousness.  This is an emotive story which very quickly had me invested in the outcomes for the characters, and empathizing with the repeated difficult decisions they had to make to survive in a changing society, whether connecting with a “taboo” people, reframing how one thinks of land and family, or questioning long-held beliefs.  The language in this book is beautiful and expressive, and there are many quotes I could pull out but here are a few:

Tū’s face contorted again.  Iraia saw the anger deepen, then a fleeting sorrow soften the hard man’s face.  Finally, like a spade breaking earth, sharp resolution.

But the fire kept them up, talking, laughing, reweaving their lives together to make themselves strong for a future they couldn’t predict.

Mere had become a pounding in his blood, his pulse amplified, she was the very shape of all that he knew he shouldn’t hope for.

Y’know how people-of-colour are always being described with skin the colour of chocolate, caramel, coffee, etc?  Well, here’s a first:

Later, when it was impossible to lie still or sleep, she wished she had the natural protection of her brother’s Milo skin, and for the first time ever (strangely since it was the story she was weaned on) wondered why she didn’t.

And then, there are phrases which just seem to so correctly explain facets of Māori and Moriori life:

Things make sense only in relation to other things.

We are the people of this land.  They cannot change that with their paper laws.

Understand we do not die out.  Ours is a quiet strength that knows not even the boundary of death.  You do your worst and still we are here.  Ka Ora.  We live.  Still.

NB:  Moriori history is complex and has been willfully misinterpreted over time both as a means to avoid discomfort, and a way of justifying Pākehā violence and colonization.  In brief, my understanding is this:  Moriori were Polynesians who came to Aotearoa, and then settled on Rēkohu, while Māori settled on the mainland.  In adapting to life on Rēkohu and growing a population of around 2500 people, they turned to hunting/gathering over horticulture, disestablished the class system, established their own dialect, and most importantly, established Nukunuku’s Law, which forbade cannibalism and murder, even in times of warfare. 

In 1835, roughly 900 members of the Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Mutunga iwi came to Rēkohu in search of new territories after being displaced by Pākehā.  After being nursed back to health by the Moriori, the Māori revealed their intent to declare war.  A council of over 1000 Moriori was held to deliberate the response, and ultimately it was decided that Nukunuku’s law of passive resistance and peace would be honoured.  The two iwi killed over 300 Moriori and enslaved the rest; until they were released from slavery in 1863.  The impact of slavery, loss of land, people, and culture continued to impact the Moriori, and when I was growing up, it was widely and incorrectly taught in schools that the Moriori were “an inferior race” who were “extinct”.  In February this year, the Moriori and the New Zealand Government/Crown signed a deed of settlement which transferred land back from the Māori to the Moriori, officially recognized their imi as a living people, and sets the record straight on Moriori history. 

newtread's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

natchristensen's review

5.0

There's a reason that this book is on so many New Zealander's list of must-reads. It's a fantastic novel set in two time periods in 1835 and the present day.
I read another book by Tina Makareti a while ago - The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke - and was struck by how powerfully the theme of whakapapa and ancestral connection was driving the story. This book does this even more so, and whakapapa/hokopapa is really another character across space and time, presented as an ancestor who lives and experiences what happens to his descendents.

annibtj's review

3.0

3.5

This was interesting, and it was really nice to read a new zealand book, all about new zealand history and culture, and not be bored and not dislike it and actually feel some sort of connection to it.

Tina Makereti's fiction style is much better than the one play of hers that I've read. Her language is beautiful, it flows and captures the haunting essence of the book. The story is told from several different generations, which I think is quite common in historical-fiction but I felt it was really well done. I also think for a book with a decent-sized cast all the characters had some depth to them, some life. Overall everything felt very unified and it all came together well to tell this story that i think a lot of time, passion and care went into.

aschertle's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

ariereads's review

5.0

“Life climbs back into itself, life makes itself anew, and even the desecration of a people is no match for the plans the sacred has for itself.”

Oh, this book catches you deep in the gut, a winding, and cuts through to the bone, and if you don't have tears by the end (and at all the points through the middle, too) then go back and read it again, let it catch you somewhere deeper.

Makereti balances and embraces the complexities of whakapapa here so beautifully, and I don't really have the words for it.

crazytourists_books's review

4.0

A wonderfully written book, a compelling story.
If only the dictionary at the end of the book was longer, explaining all the Moriori and Maori words...