Potiki

In this chapter, Toko recounts the aftermath of the heavy rain. Unlike the rains of previous years, this summer’s rain has caused a great deal of damage to the Maori community. At first, people believe the heavy rains to be a divine punishment for “the stripping of the hills, the cutting away of the land, the dislodgement of the sea rock and the blocking of the shore” (116).

After a karakia (a prayer service) at the meeting house, the younger men make their way towards the back of the land in dinghies. Here, they find “rock and chunks of concrete and bitumen” piled up on the creek bed, which they attribute to the carelessness of the road builders, and clear away.

Later, Matiu, Timoti, and three of their friends arrive at the wharekai (dining hall)angry and upset, and inform Aunty Rina and Tangi that the flooding has been caused by the deliberate attempt of the land developers to channel the rain water to run down to the urupa (burial ground). Remembering the “rage and hate” (117) on the Dollarman’s face at the last meeting, Toko has no difficulty believing that, as Matiu and Timoti suggest, this could be the work of the “bosses” (117).

The people soon notice reporters approaching the area, one of whom wants to know who the chief of the tribe is and asks whether a few people from the community can pose for some photos.

Once the water has subsided a little, the whole community, including Granny Tamihana, Toko and the young children, who are assisted by friendly and supportive locals, make their way to the burial ground, where a service is given to lament “all that had happened, and for the family long gone and recently gone, but who were amongst us still” (120).

This chapter is a flashback to when James, Tangi, Manu and Toko were children and Granny Tamihana would give them “the first flowers of each season” (121) to take to the graves at the urupa (burial ground). After climbing the small hill leading to the cemetery, they would sit and rest before walking about, reading the inscriptions on the grave stones and talking about their ancestors “retelling the stories they’d heard and told over and over again” (121).

One afternoon in particular, they debate the different versions they have heard of the death of Uncle Pere Thompson, who was “as big as a mountain” (121) and whose body required an unusually large grave. They then comment on Aunty Emma, who was “married to a German spy” (122), before remembering Hemi’s father, who lost his thumb fighting in World War I, and Hemi’s mother, who wore a locket containing photos of her children who died as babies, Miria and Tame. As the children weed the graves and put down their jars of fresh flowers, they listen to see if they can hear the dead making sounds under the earth, while Tangi describes the “yellow kitchens” (123) and “skinny passages” (123) where the dead now live. Before they leave, they each choose an ancestor to talk to. James chooses his grandfather, whom he has never met, and tells him that they have seen a picture of him at Granny Tamihana’s and that they all now live in his house. Manu addresses Miria and Tame; Toko tells Granny Tamihana’s brother that she has given him his name, as well as a pendant, to help him; and Tangi talks to her grandmother, whose room now belongs to her.

On returning from the cemetery, the children would go to Granny Tamihana’s house for tea with bread, butter and jam.

This chapter recounts the discovery of the efforts to sabotage the Maori land from Roimata’s point of view. She accompanies those who go to investigate the extent of the flooding at the rear of their land and discovers the junk in the creek. She recounts, as Toko does in Chapter 17, the initial reaction of anger among the group and their assumption that the mess in the creek, which has created a dam, is due to the “thoughtlessness” (127) of the work men. As they clear the debris, it occurs to Roimata that it may have been “deliberately done” (127). Once they have made a narrow clearing to enable the water to flow again, Stan voices what everyone else is thinking: that the developers created the dam deliberately. Eventually, Matiu, Timoti, Tangi and Tania arrive bringing “hot food and drink” (128) and Matiu informs them about the channel that has been made down the hillside to “do harm” (128) and about his and Timoti’s intention to stop working on the development project. The newcomers then finish clearing the creek while the others eat.

The workers are then joined by the rest of the family, who approach “in a slow procession” (129) to meet them at the urupa (burial ground). They are accompanied by Hoani, the minister, and some of the locals who had originally protested against the construction work. Hoani encourages them to put aside their anger and focus on restoring safety and peace to the burial ground. He recites a prayer for the dead and Granny Tamihana chants a waiata (song), before others in the group use shovels to replace the earth that has been washed away in the flood. At the meeting house that evening, the community decides that they will request an official investigation into the damage and that Matiu and Timoti should remain in their posts “to watch and listen” (131).

The following day, Reuben, his wife, Hiria, and youngest son, Pena, arrive from Te Ope to help clean the flooded houses and restore the urupa and gardens. They stay for a week, during which time Pena falls in love with Tangi, initiating a long-term relationship between the two. Reuben recognizes a name that is mentioned in conversations about the damage and informs the community that this “dangerous man” (132) had once had his car bombed in retaliation for burning down a nightclub. The family are joined by James, to whom the Te Ope people are very grateful, as well as by other friends, neighbors and returning family who come offering help and support. One evening Toko tells Roimata of premonition he has had about people “of hunger and anger,” who “will come when everything is grown and green” (133), and also of “a night of colours [sic]” and “a night of stars” (133).

The investigation finds fault with the Maori people for clearing away the evidence and does little else besides concluding that the creation of a dam and channel may be a possibility.