Woven By Water Histories from the Whanganui River
This is a story of connections - of relationships between races, relationships between hapu and the relationships between people on what is arguably the most distinctively “Maori” river in Aotearoa New Zealand. This remarkable book begins in the early 1800s and traces oral and archival stories of the Whanganui River. Each chapter opens with a present day encounter with Maori informants who take the author back in time to explore another aspect of the history.
Woven by Water "…gives us information and analysis plus feeling; it doesn't simply inform, it resonates... I commend it wholeheartedly" - Michael King
Written when a ‘John David Stout Research Fellow’ Victoria University: 1987 Publisher: Huia Publishers ISBN 0908975627
The chapters:
Whanganui Waters of life Hakataramea-Ahuriri A dream of hope Waipaoa-Motu Savaged River, Ravaged Land Buller Riding the big one Waikato Every Bend a power Station Taramakau Turning the River in its Grave Manawatu Contrariness and Control Rakaia Fishing versus Farming Rangitikei The river as Barrier Clutha The end of the Golden River
TVNZ / Listener 1986 Published with the assistance of the New Zealand Hydrological Society (Wellington, NZ)
ISBN 0908690142 (hbk) Photos by Bruce Foster
Faces of the River
is a celebration of New Zealand’s rivers in all their aspects but especially the human one. This book is a New Zealand historical geography, which explores a wide range of rivers – from the wild to the dammed.
‘The ancient maps of this land are shimmering... In contemplating a river’s flow or it’s meander, in listening to its murmur, one may come to hear the heartbeat of the land … most vitally we require the wisdom to recognize that, as with all living things on this planet, their well-being is our own.’
Eddie Durie, former Chief Judge, Maori Land Court, writes in the forward :
’Faces of the River is an invitation to confront ourselves. The river teaches us where we have been, where we are now, and where we might be going. This book, which I commend to all who love New Zealand, follows the instruction of the river.’
A review by Gordon Webley Although a pakeha the author, through this work, confirms his enormous stature and thus remains one of the more influential in Aotearoa. This is in part due to the fact that this work palpably demonstrates huge respect for the mana and the maui of the tangata awa - the people of the river. Highly recommended reading, not only for the stories of the Whanganui, but also - albeit less directly - for the rest of the country.Get it read it treasure it and give it away to someone else to read. Then get another and start this cycle again because this book deserves multiple readings. Like all great books, this one belongs in a reader's hand and not on some dusty bookshelf.
