Author(s): Witi Ihimaera; Hemi Kelly

Novel | Maori | Te Reo Māori | Aotearoa Fiction | Historical

Both fiction and fact, this fascinating book is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the Battle of Ōrākau. During three days in 1864, 300 Māori men, women and children fought an Imperial army and captured the imagination of the world. The battle marked the end of the Land Wars in the Waikato and resulted in vast tracts of land being confiscated for European settlement.

Instead of following the usual standpoint of the victors, this book takes a Māori perspective. It is centred around Witi Ihimaera's moving novella, Sleeps Standing - Moetū, which views the battle through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy named Moetū. Alongside the novella are non-fiction narratives from Māori eyewitnesses, together with images and a Māori translation by Hemi Kelly, further giving voice to and illuminating the people who tried to protect their culture and land.

It is estimated that, at the height of the battle, 1700 immensely superior troops, well-armed and amply resourced, laid siege to the hastily constructed pa at Ōrākau. The defenders were heavily outnumbered with few supplies or weapons but, when told to submit, they replied -

'E hoa, ka whawhaitonu mātou, ake, ake, ake!' 

'Friend, I shall fight against you for ever, for ever!'

Author Biography:  

Witi Ihimaera was the first Māori to publish both a book of short stories and a novel, and since then has published many notable novels and collections of short stories. Described by Metro magazine as 'Part oracle, part memoralist,' and 'an inspired voice, weaving many stories together', Ihimaera has also written for stage and screen, edited books on the arts and culture, as well as published various works for children. His best-known novel is The Whale Rider, which was made into a hugely, internationally successful film in 2002. The feature film White Lies was based on his novella Medicine Woman. And his novel Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies inspired the 2016 feature film Mahana. His first book, Pounamu, Pounamu, has not been out of print in the 40 years since publication. He has also had careers in diplomacy, teaching, theatre, opera, film and television. He has received numerous awards, a laureate award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation 2009, the Toi Māori Maui Tiketike Award 2011. In 2004 he became a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand. Witi Ihimaera has said that he considers 'the world I'm in as being Māori, not European' and that he writes from this perspective. 

Hēmi Kelly (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whāoa) is a lecturer in te reo Māori at AUT.  He started learning te reo Māori as a young teenager and naturally progressed into teaching roles after study. Hēmi is a full-time lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology. His academic research and writing focus largely on the revitalsation of the Māori language and translation studies. Hēmi is a licensed translator and graduate of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo (The Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language). In 2017, Hēmi translated Witi Ihimaera's novella in Sleeps Standing and published his first book A Māori Word a Day in 2018. In 2019, Hēmi published his first creative writing piece in English in Pūrākau, a collection of Māori myths retold by Māori writers.