MĀORI LANGUAGE AND AUTHENTICITY

Hine-Ra makes an asserted effort to create a sense of authenticity for the New Zealand backdrop, and especially for its portrayal and literary exploitation of Māori. Whitford relies heavily on the inclusion of Te Reo, the native language of New Zealand to develop this sense of authenticity, weaving the language throughout his text. Whitford’s saturation of Te Reo throughout the text fulfils its purpose as a “Māoriland” novel, and also deeply enhances its authenticity. By frequently incorporating Te Reo language, Whitford provides a feeling of authenticity, enhancing the readers experience of the text as a New Zealand novel. He makes a concerted effort to translate each Māori word and phrase for the reader so as to enhance the readers experience and feeling of immersion further.

His incorporation of Te Reo also provides a sense of authority for Whitford as a “Maorliand” author. By exhibiting an understanding of, and willingness to use Te Reo, Whitford places himself as an authentic New Zealand novelist who makes use of the opportunities provided by New Zealand as a unique literary landscape. Te Reo only became a fully written language in 1820 when the first complete grammar of the Māori language was published in “A Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of New Zealand” by the Church Missionary Society. Despite only living in New Zealand for four years, Whitford exhibits a developed understanding of the language in his writing. The language is woven effortlessly throughout his text aiding in the feel of New Zealand authenticity the novel possesses. He provides translations for many Māori words, both embedded in the text and as a glossary. His immersion of both himself and the reader into the native language of New Zealand creates a wholly unique novel.

Whitford also makes use of Māori proverbs throughout the text which aids in the feeling of legitimacy for the novels status as a New Zealand text, and provides further insight into Māori culture. “He kokonga whare e taea rapurapa; he kokonga ngakau ehore e taea. (we can tough every corner of a house, but the corner of the heart we can not”³². Proverbs have a significant place in literature, and especially with regards to accessing and understanding cultures and society. Proverbs are often unique to cultures and societites, and thus the use of them in the novel further enhances the authenticity of the text. By including traditional Māori proverbs, insight is provided into the Māori as a people, which would have been of great interest to foreign readers at the time. It allows readers to access a culture they otherwise may not have, and deepens readers intrigue into Māori culture.

In his prologue, Whitford also provides historical testament to the novel at hand and the events taking place in New Zealand at the time of publication. Although this testament is fictionalised, it draws from the truth, as does much of his novel. Although Whitford has fictionalised the events which occur in Hine-ra, much of the events he portrays are based off fact. In his testament he writes:

Of the tribes named none were more frequently at feud than the allied Waimate and Te Nama tribes, and the powerful Patea tribe, the disputed territory being a tract of land on the north bank of the Waingongora river. The two parties were fairly evenly matched, and in their desultory wars, or rather raids (for they were more like the forays of the old border freebooters than aught else, with the difference that their object was to carry off prisoners instead of black cattle), success as often attended one side as the other. ³³

The principal pahs, or palisaded enclosures, of the tribes were: of the Pateas, on the Patea river, 26 miles north-west of the Wanganui river; of the Waimates, near the Kaipokonui stream, about 38 miles further; and of Te Namas, one mile north-west of Opunake Bay. which is 17 miles from Waimate, and the scene where this story opens³⁴.

His prologue aids in further developing the reader's understanding of New Zealand, and provides insight into Whitford’s’ journalistic talent as he offers up fiction as historical truth. His novel is undoubtedly based off historically accurate events which he has fictionalised. Although his novel is not historically authentic, it does not take away from the tales effectiveness when it comes to developing an understanding of New Zealand, its peoples and culture during the nineteenth century. Of course, it would be unfair to expect a fictional text to be entirely accurate and factual, yet Whitford succeeds in retelling historical events in the fictional world. By altering fact for the purpose of fiction, Hine-ra succeeds in its task of becoming a uniquely New Zealand novel which details nineteenth-century Aotearoa. Whitford provides authentic insight into Māori language and culture in his text, and bases his plot off real events which had great significance to the early development of New Zealand. His creative licence as an author to fictionalise events enhances the novels appeal and effect on the reader. The novel remains in the realm of fiction whilst engaging the reader in the reality of New Zealand. Hine-ra or the Maori Scout: A Romance of the New Zealand War succeeds in placing itself as a “Māoridom” novel, and in exhibiting the traits of a quintessential New Zealand text. Although it has been largely forgotten amongst scholarship and criticism, the novel remains an example of early New Zealand writing.