(2003) directed by Niki Caro
The Legend of Paikea
Task: read the following story of Paikea and complete the tasks
Paikea
Source: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film/NAME/script/files/SCRIPT56.pdf
Paikea lived in Hawaiki – he had a different name. Not Paikea but Kahutiaterangi. He was Kahutiaterangi, son of Uenuku, born on the mat of chiefs. Rautapu hated his brother
Kahutiaterangi. He was jealous of him and wanted his mana so he decided to kill him. But Kahutiaterangi called to his ancestors for help. And then a huge whale came up from the bottom of the sea to save Kahutiaterangi’s life. The huge whale lifted him up and Kahutiaterangi became Paikea, the same as the whale. The whale is Paikea’ Kahutiaterangi is Paikea. Paikea rode on the whale for many days and nights through fierce storms, thunder and lightning – the whale saved his life and took him to Aotearoa, where he would be safe. Paikea stayed in Aotearoa – and settled at Whangara; he would never return to Hawaiki. He married three wives and had many children.
The story is retold with beautiful illustrations by Robyn Kahukiwa in the children’s book,
“Paikea”.
Student Tasks
Complete the following tasks.
1) Rewrite or recount the Paikea story using your own words in half a page to a page.
2) Tell a version of the Paikea story or legend to another person.
3) Storyboard the Paikea story using 10 frames.
4) Identify the similarities between the legend of Paikea and the film Whale Rider.
5) Identify the differences between the legend of Paikea and the film Whale Rider.
6) Research other stories of Paikea on the internet and read 1 or more.
7) Find a map of NZ and draw the North Island. Find and highlight Whangara on your map. Draw the journey from Hawaiki to Whangara. Use symbols such as a whale and waka on your map.
8) In what ways will the small community of Whangara have been affected by the making of the film and the fact it has been so successful. Consider both advantages and disadvantages to the community.
More information on the Legend of Paikea
Paikea Source: http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/NgatiPorou/1/en
The epic character Paikea is a key ancestor who came to New Zealand on the back of a whale. His story is shadowed by treachery in Hawaiki, where a battle took place over family status and rivalries, and ended in the slaughter by Ruatapu of some 70 ‘brothers’, his senior kin.
The ancestress Paimahutonga had been taken captive by the great Hawaiki chief Uenuku. She then married Uenuku and had a son named Ruatapu. Uenuku belittled Ruatapu as a low-born son, and in revenge Ruatapu killed all of Uenuku’s older sons out at sea; the sole survivor was Paikea. The tragedy is known in Ngāti Porou history as Te Huripūreiata.
Paikea was buoyed ashore by calling upon his sea gods and ancestors. He married the beautiful Huturangi, daughter of Te Whironui, who had arrived with his wife Āraiara in the Nukutere canoe. Their marriage is commemorated in ‘Paikea’, the anthem of Ngāti Porou, with the words:
E ai tō ure ki te tamāhine a Te Whironui.
May you cohabit with the daughter of Te Whironui.
God of Sea Monsters
Source: http://folksong.org.nz/paikea/index.html
Note the ideas associated with Paikea: in older Polynesian societies, Paikea is the god of sea monsters, the son of Rangi and Papa. Crabs are called paikea in the Cooks and pai'ea in Hawaii, and humpback whales are called paikea in NZ Maori dictionaries.
In older Polynesian societies, myths about Paikea personify the awesome endurance of creatures that challenged and survived the stormy seas - crabs surviving hurricanes in the tropics by clinging to drifting logs, and humpback whales heading down into the roaring forties every summer.
There are several different local variations of the Kahutia-te-rangi story-
- after a hurricane, he makes a raft out of debris,
- or he chants a karakia which enables him to swim a long distance to shore,
- or he rides in a waka named after a whale,
- or he becomes one with the spirit of the whales,
- or he rides on a whale,
- or he is a whale,
- or he is a taniwha.