{"id":1331,"date":"2022-12-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T23:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2025-05-03T16:31:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T04:31:55","slug":"kawai-for-such-a-time-as-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2022\/12\/24\/kawai-for-such-a-time-as-this\/","title":{"rendered":"K\u0101wai: For Such A Time As This"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monty Soutar<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bateman Books<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Otago Daily Times, December 24th 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Better known for his work as a historian, Monty Soutar\u2019s first novel, set in 18th<\/sup> century Aotearoa, is a meticulously researched and beautifully written story inspired by the life of his tipuna, Rongo-i-te-kai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0101i Haere chief K\u0101whai\u2019s hapu, Wh\u0101nau-a-mate, live on the banks of the Ng\u0101p\u014d stream in the shadow of Hikurangi. Made chief at thirteen after his father was killed at Te Maniaroa by the Aitanga Nui warrior Taniwha, he has dedicated the life of his eldest son, Kaitanga, to avenging his and his people\u2019s loss. The story follows Kai from his birth to his (probably) final battle, allowing Soutar to provide insight into multiple aspects of pre-colonial life: ceremonies accompanying birth, death, and betrothal; hunting techniques and cultivation practices; clothing and adornment; ritual and magic; weapons and warrior training. Some, such as tangihanga, are still recognisable in contemporary culture or because analogous customs are common (boot camp, it seems, is always boot camp). Others, such as the preparation of moko mokai, are less familiar. Yet, the novel brings them all to vivid, tangible life, painting a portrait of a highly capable and resourceful people living in accordance with the rhythms of the land and the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is no utopia, however, and Soutar does not shy away from brutality and violence. Battles are described in vivid detail and form a self-perpetuating cycle: K\u0101whai watches his father and uncles defiled by Taniwha and pledges his son to vengeance. Kai kills Taniwha\u2019s son Whiwhi-rangi, and an Aitangi-nui boy devotes himself to settling the score in return. There is cannibalism too, not just the ritual consumption of the flesh of fallen enemies but also pononga (slaves), murdered and served to honoured guests in the name of ostentatious hospitality. As Soutar says in his author\u2019s note, practices such as utu and kaitangata were a part of traditional society but are confronting and little spoken about. Although he has based this story on the oral histories of his own whanau to limit criticism to his own antecedents, it is brave of him to include these and other controversial issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also deals deftly with the problem of language. Maori words and phrases appear throughout the book, some of which are explained directly: \u201cwh\u0101ngai or adopted children\u2026kowhaiwhai or scroll panels\u201d,<\/em> and there is an extensive glossary, but for the most part, he adopts a less obtrusive approach. Chapters open with a whakatouk\u012b in both languages, and characters frequently address each other in M\u0101ori, followed by the English translation in a way that feels natural: \u201cN\u0101 wai koe? Who do you belong to?\u201d <\/em>It is an approach that does not exclude non-speakers while allowing those with some familiarity to see how they map to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u0101whai is the first of a trilogy detailing the impact of colonisation on M\u0101ori across nine generations from the 1700s to 2018. Although undoubtedly dealing with hard truths, especially for P\u0101keha, it is a series whose time has come and on with the makings of a contemporary classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monty Soutar Bateman Books Otago Daily Times, December 24th 2022 Better known for his work as a historian, Monty Soutar\u2019s first novel, set in 18th century Aotearoa, is a meticulously researched and beautifully written story inspired by the life of his tipuna, Rongo-i-te-kai. Ng\u0101i Haere chief K\u0101whai\u2019s hapu, Wh\u0101nau-a-mate, live on the banks of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[381,370,421,416,500,18],"class_list":["post-1331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-381","tag-fiction","tag-historical","tag-monty-soutar","tag-nz-author","tag-odt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1332,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions\/1332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cushla.spooky-possum.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}