Rangatira

by Paula Morris

Auckland, June 1886. Ngati Wai chief Paratene Te Manu spends long sessions, over three long days, having his portrait painted by the Bohemian painter Gottfried Lindauer. Hearing of Lindauer's planned trip to England reminds him of his own journey there, twenty years earlier, with a party of northern rangatira. As he sits for Lindauer, Paratene retreats deeper and deeper into the past, from the triumphs in London and their meetings with royalty to the disintegration of the visit into poverty, mistrust, and humiliation. Based on a true story.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, 21st Century

Unknown Binding

First published October 31, 2011

About the author

Paula Morris, a novelist and short story writer of English and Maori descent, was born in New Zealand. For almost a decade she worked in the record business in London and New York. She now lives in New Orleans, where she teaches creative writing at Tulane University.

Paula's first novel, Queen of Beauty, won best first work of fiction at the 2003 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Hibiscus Coast, a literary thriller set in Auckland and Shanghai, was published in 2005 and has been optioned for film. Her third novel, Trendy But Casual, was published by Penguin New Zealand in 2005.

Paula's first short story collection, Forbidden Cities (2008) was a regional finalist in the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Ruined, her first YA novel, was published by Scholastic in 2009.

Reviews

[Bella xx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the narrator and the ending, it was a really measured and poignant way of telling the book’s story. My main issue was that I felt the English trip was slightly underwhelming, there were so many warnings and forebodings which ultimately culminated in some deaths and disrespect. I felt like the book had been leading up to something bigger than that, which was perhaps the purpose of the tying in of the Land Court in the end, but still it felt like the English trip fell a little flat.

[Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished Rangatira and discovered when I went to enter it on Goodreads that I had read it in 2013 and I’d only given it three stars. I would definitely give it four stars this time around, more like 4.5 stars, I really enjoyed it. It’s a well researched look at a piece of NZ history.

[Ethan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this - a fresh and interesting perspective in what was really lost with European contact for rangatira. Can the standing granted by hereditary nobility and aristocracy pre-supposed on birthright - theoretically innate and inalienable - continue to exist when it is refused to be acknowledged by a new authority? Can the moko literally etched into Paratene's skin validate his turangwaewae when there is no one able to read it? Does the ruru's haunting call make a sound in the empty Northern bush? No matter how contentious and antagonistic our relationship with those above us, no matter how much we fight to self-affirm, our personhood and legacy largely relies on the ability to be read and understood in good faith.

[Kiwiflora · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has taken some years for Paula Morris to finish her meticulously crafted and told tale of her tupuna's (ancestor's) journey to England in 1863. Her tupuna was Ngati Wai chief Paratene Te Manu. He was a fierce warrior who fought with Hone Heke against other tribes, and fully embraced the arrival of the European with their muskets and other influences. After a time he converted to Christianity, quickly taking on the mores and ways of the European Christians around him. In 1863, now an exemplary convert, along with 13 other chiefs, he made the long and not very pleasant voyage to England. The chief objective of this tour was to meet Queen Victoria, as was fitting for their chiefly status in Maori society. The trip was organised and funded by members of the Wesley Methodist church in New Zealand, three of whom also made the journey. As well as an audience with the Queen, the other aims of the trip were to allow the chiefs to see what a great nation England was in its industrial and economic development and to allow the English themselves to see first hand the high ranking Christianised chiefs from England's furthest outpost.

The whole adventure, that started with such high hopes and I would say honorable intentions, fairly quickly descended into disorder, sickness, exploitation, misunderstanding and tragedy.

The story is narrated in the first person by Paratene himself, some twenty years later. He is now an old man and has agreed to undertake a number of sittings for a portrait to be completed by the artist Gottfried Lindauer. This is the picture that is the cover for the book, although apparently the original painting was done from a photo. However we won't let that get in the way of a good story! Mr Lindauer is shortly to leave on a long sea voyage himself and this, combined with the long sitting sessions allows Paratene to reflect on his own life changing long sea voyage.

The research the author has put into this book is extraordinary, and it shows in the richness of detail and quality of writing. We experience the discomfort and confinement of being in steerage for the sea voyage through the eyes of Paratene, who has never been in such a situation before, and already sees this an omen for how the rest of the tour will turn out. Hardly an appropriate accommodation for a group of chiefs. We also see the squalor, poverty, violence and ugliness of Dickensian London through the wide-open eyes of Paratene, as well as the luxury and grandeur of the higher echelons of English society they find themselves in. Amidst the chaos the tour turns into, Paratene documents the kindness and concern they receive from perfect strangers who see the Maori chiefs for the symbols of conquest they become.

Throughout Paratene maintains his dignity and manners, unlike some of the others in the party. This makes him the perfect narrator for such a tale as at all times he tries to see both sides of what is going on around him. At times I did find his objectivity frustrating - I don't think any person of such intelligence and perception could remain so distanced, almost passive by what was going on around him. Nevertheless, as he is narrating his story some twenty years after the event, it is hardly surprising the urgency, emotion and immediacy of the situation has faded over time.

Perhaps what I found most interesting about the whole book was how emphatically and righteously the Christian Maori totally embraced everything European and openly rejected their traditional Maori ways, all in the space of one generation. This included things such as European dress, performance of haka, songs and prayers, learning to read, write and speak English. Quite different from today! As the quote from the Bible on page 137 says 'For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?'

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting snippet of New Zealand history although I wish it didn't spend so much time foreshadowing and then focusing on the negative of the trip - it came across as a giant whinge where no character acted as they should and I'm not sure what the message the author was trying to get across by choosing to highlight this so much.

But the reason I only gave the book three stars was the writing style. I expected more. The narrator's voice doesn't resonate with the wisdom of a man who lived through great changes - his wisdom feels forced and shallow - or the storytelling lyricism I hoped for for a character born into an oral-based society. Instead the voice sounds like that of a tired old man of generic time and culture.

And I understand that the use of so many Maori words requires explanation of their meaning to make the text accessible to those who don't understand but the constant didactic reiteration retracts from the flow of sentences - again taking from the originality of Paratene Te Manu's voice. I would have preferred being left to work them out myself.

I realise in this review I've focused on the negatives - much like the narrative itself. However I do love the way the author has taken a historical figure and two paintings of him (one by Lindauer held by the Auckland City Art Gallery and one by Smetham in the Hocken Library collection) and juxtaposed these paintings and the stories surrounding their creation. Paratene Te Manu mused how:

"Artists can make mistakes on their canvas as writers can on a page, and then what can be done? There is no way to argue with a painting, except to make another painting. And when we are all long dead, strangers will look upon these paintings, and they will not know which one is true and which is false, or if they are both false in different ways."

Both artists made mistakes, but in the narrative the one who stopped to get to know his subject better, created an image less false. Same as this book - a historical event told in the form of a novel, but does that make it any more false?

[Bronwen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quickly hooked into this fusty old rangatira's incredible story, and stayed hooked all the way through. Fascinating. Extremely well written.

[Kelly Gardiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of the many cultural interactions between Maori and the colonising British is powerfully told in the voice of Paratene Te Manu - meditative and ultimately very moving.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing that always gets to me when I read historical fiction based in colonized countries is the blindness of the colonizers to how false their assumption of white supremacy was. The state of their own countries (ok so mostly I am talking about England in the 1800s because most of the historical fiction I read is set in Aotearoa NZ or Australia) is deplorable, as the rangatira Paratene points out in this novel, with whole families sleeping on the streets in the slums of London. Civilisation? I think not.

This novel is set on a true journey of rangatira to England in 1863. It mostly made me feel sad (and of course mad) all over again about the history of Aotearoa. But it also made me wonder why I have never read any of Paula Morris's novels before. Looking forward to reading more now.

[davidman001]

The journey through England is at times funny, frustrating, and sad. But it's ultimately the ending that ties everything together. The idea that time and the world around us is forever changing, that the Māori values Paratene once believed in now feel like long-gone history. Not because these values are wrong, rather they are a minority, misunderstood and disrespected. The ending is heartbreaking because nothing grand happens. It's simply defeat in the face of a system of law that seems untouchable, impossible to fight.

I love the dedication and research that went into this narrative. It's both an engaging narrative and an interesting look into the past. I'm thankful I got to hear Paula Morris talk about her journey creating this novel during a lecture at UoA. Incredible stuff!

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm I read this book for a class and while I didn’t hate it, I also feel that I didn’t enjoy it. I see the merit and importance in a book like this, which is why I’m frustrated on having to condense my reading of it in one week. I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I take my time to go through it at my own pace, but also the longer chapters can be tough to get through. Seeing as Paratene is an old man, it definitely comes across in the writing style of events- it basically feels like listening to a grandparent/elderly person describe an event… slow and drawling, occasionally boring, but still incredibly worthwhile and valuable.

[Jim Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel, based on the oral history of Paratene, one of the author’s ancestors, resonated with me. It focuses on a trip to England, made by Paratene, together with other Rangatira, and the interactions of the group with both the organiser of the trip ( Mr Jenkins) and English society. I found the postscript particularly illuminating because it explained where the novel and the actual history probably parted company. Rather than detracting from the novel, I found this to be a useful rationale for some of the literary devices employed by the author.

[Amarjeet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very marvellous novel of epic proportions which lends depth to a historic figure and what he experienced upon leaving his native land and entering a world radically different from his own.

I, personally, couldn't fault this novel. Read it, and then read it again if you are a purveyor of historic fiction.

[Liz Bridgeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. Eye opener.

[⋆˚࿔ jenna ˚⋆ ⸆⸉ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Caroline Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Paul Morris dances the fine tightrope between fact and fiction with a meticulously researched novel based on real characters and in this case real paintings. Rangatira is the astonishing story of a group of high-born Maori who tour England in 1863 with Wesleyan Mr. Jenkins. The story is told through the first person narration of Paratene Te Manu, a now-elderly Ngati Wai chief (rangatira) looking back over his life. In England the group are the toast of the town, meeting Queen Victoria and speaking at many public engagements. They grow disenchanted with Jenkins’ good (I think) intentions and eventually uncertainty - particularly around money – causes the group to disintegrate and they return home to New Zealand.

The book is a study of similarities and differences between two cultures. Paratene muses on similarity of class structure: “Just as the Queen would not let Princess Beatrice marry a footman or a chimney sweep, we would expect the son of a rangatira to make a suitable match, of strategic value to his people.” Loc. 2738.

But although Paratene has embraced Christianity, and dresses and speaks like an Englishman, he also believes Maori and English are inherently different: “Who we are is determined by our birth, our inheritance, our connections, our whakapapa. Through marriage or adoption, Pakeha can be woven into our net. But the sweep of our net is broad, and it stretches back to the beginning of time. It can never be cast aside.” Loc. 2624.

I believe he is referring to the concept of ‘Te Here Tangata’ (or ‘The Rope of Mankind’). This is a symbolic vine stretching vertically through generations past, present and future; a concept so broad and connecting that it is difficult to fathom in our fast-paced, instant, western world.

It seems the England trip weighed on Paratene’s mind for the remainder of his life. In many ways it changed him for the better – he speaks so fondly of the honor of meeting Queen Wikitoria - but in the most fundamental way, it changed him forever: “I thought that home waited for me, unchanging, and that I could re-take my place there, tend my fire. But nothing is unchanging.” Loc. 3055.

I really enjoyed Paratene’s humor and his authentic voice: “We Maori often have more than one wife…But, of course, these were the old days, when much was wrong. Now that we live in modern times, and hold to Christian ways, we must only have one wife at a time, even if we don’t like her much.” Loc. 645.

If I had to pick a negative it would be that the ongoing battle with Jenkins becomes the central focus of the story, which I’m sure is not the author’s intention. I get that private business has spilled out into the public domain. And I get that it’s cringe-worthy and doesn’t make Maori or English look any good. But the story is richer than the sum of these arguments.

A big, juicy 4 stars from me.

For more reviews and articles, or media requests, please visit me at www.lovewordsmusic.com.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rangatira, by New Zealand author Paula Morris (of English and Ngati Wai (Maori) descent), is a most interesting book, particularly for those of us who are not very familiar with New Zealand history. It is a recreation of the true story of the author’s ancestor, Ngati Wai chief Paratene Te Manu, who was one of a group of 14 Maori who visited England in 1863-4. The title, Rangatiri is especially apt because while it refers specifically to Maori chiefs, it also has connotations of leadership, and this tale of a 19th century touring group of Maori chiefs in England, explores many kinds of leadership …

As I mentioned when I posted a Sensational Snippet from this book last week, the novel begins with Ngati Wai chief Paratene te Manu reminiscing about his past while the Bohemian painter Gottfried Lindauer paints the portrait that you can see at the Auckland Art Gallery and on the cover of the book. Paratene is keen to have control over how this portrait is done because a previous painting portrayed him with symbols which were false and undignified, and now aged 86, Paratene realises that for future generations, these portraits contribute to the historical legacy of the sitter. He is witnessing great change in Maori affairs, and although he suspects that in years to come the significance of the symbols in the moko on his face may not be recognised, he hopes that having the moko immortalised using Pakeha methods will at least ensure that the memory of rangatira leadership will endure.

Dispossessed and disempowered but still determined to use the legal and political system to enforce the rights of his people, Paratene is alert to how perceptions of dignity – or the lack of it – can contribute to a lack of respect. As he sits patiently for the artist, he remembers how he imprudently agreed to an invitation to visit England, a journey which ended in poverty, mistrust and humiliation. He succumbed because he wanted to emulate the leadership of his great hero-ancestor, Nga Puhi ariki Honga Hiki, whose own journey to England in 1820 resulted in meeting the leader of the British Empire, King George IV. Paratene wanted to meet the important people of England, and his eventual meeting with Queen Victoria remains the highlight of the trip.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2013/07/08/ra...

[S. Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a fascinating read. Paula Morris deals with notions of New Zealand identity and the often uncomfortable relationship between 19th Century England and the people of colonial territories. Using the portrait of the rangitira Paratene as a way in to the story, we see the way Maori were frequently misrepresented to the world - either because cultural nuances (such as the significance of moko and cultural dress) were lost in translation, or because the Pakeha representing them sought to use them for financial gain. I found the descriptions of the lectures where Paratene and his peers were used as exhibits to support the entrepreneurial Jenkin's aims particularly poignant.

This novel is not without moral ambiguity. It would be too simplistic to say that this is a story about how the Maori were duped and used by Pakeha. The touring party are a mixed bunch, and they all respond in different ways to Jenkins and his plans. Some try and use the Pakeha's contracts to their own advantage, some object to the 'heathen' Maori displays, some take up alcohol, and some find ways to capitalise on the image of the Maori Warrior.

The one thing I will say against the novel is that I found it difficult to connect with the narrator. Looking back at his journey after a long period of time, Paratene seems objective to the point of distant. I sometimes felt that in trying to capture the events, Morris neglected to paint Paratene as vividly as she could have. The beauty of first person narrative is that it allows the narrator to be as opinionated as he pleases, and it forces the reader to make decisions about the trustworthiness of these opinions. But a narrator who fairly and objectively summarises the actions of all those around him loses some of this strength. Through the narrator, Morris describes other characters, but Paratene himself is not well fleshed-out.

Overall, I found this to be a very interesting read. Despite the lack of development in the narrator, it is a great story with some thought-provoking moments.

[Marjorie Doole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a beautifully written book which, though a novel, detals a real episode in the author's ancestor's life. This was his trip to England in 1863/4 with a number of other rangitira where they were feted by the aristocracy including royalty and then travelled more mundanely through England giving talks. The book moves slowly narrated by Paratene but is very compelling reading.

[Jake Goretzki · Rating 3 out of 5]

NZ Book Award winner 2012.

Likeable, low key and pretty deft. I like the ambiguity of the point of view (if someone told me it'd been described as 'revisionist' it wouldn't surprise me) and the handling of memory and historical judgement. We never really get a clear idea of Jenkins' intentions; who is and who isn't in portraits. Nice epilogue too... obviously a work of love.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story, which I mostly relly enjoyed. however, I didn't find the narrator convincing as a nineteenth century Rangatira (Maori chief), more the authors vehicle to tell the story as she wanted to. Still the story was worth the read.

[David Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well researched with subtle and sympathetic use of artistic license. A story for all New Zealanders.