Learning Guide for Whale Rider
Subjects: New Zealand; Maori Culture; Gender Equality;
Social Emotional Learning: Parenting, Grandparenting;
Moral-Ethical Emphasis: Caring, Respect, Justice;
Ages: 10+: MPAA Rating PG; Drama; 101 Minutes; Color; Available from Amazon.com;
Description: Paikea Apirana is a girl. When she was born her twin brother and mother both died, leaving her the last in the line of succession for chief of the Maori people. “Pai,” as she is called, is a disappointment to her grandfather, Koro, who desperately wanted a boy to inherit the role of leader and to adhere to the patrilineal tradition of the tribe. The old man establishes a school to teach the adolescent boys the ancient customs and to develop skills that might enable any one of them to become the leader for whom he is searching. Pai learns the lessons on her own and is convinced that she is capable of being the leader in spite of her grandfather’s rigid objection to the idea of a female in the role of tribal chief. Pai works hard to earn her grandfather’s respect, but is accepted by him and the villagers only after she alone saves the whales that had beached themselves near her home.
Benefits: Whale Rider offers young people the opportunity to learn about a different culture and to examine the difficulty many traditional cultures experience in facing change. They can examine their own concepts of gender roles as they watch the resistance to entrenched sexism diminish as the power of an individual transcends the limits determined by traditional sex roles.The importance of myth and stories which shape the lives of traditional people will become clear to viewers of this film and will offer them theperspective necessary to look within at their own myths and stories.
Parenting Points: Children need to understand that the grandfather in the story loves his granddaughter, a fact made evident in many scenes in the film, but is unable to let go of ancient traditions even as those traditions are no longer viable in the 21st century. Point out to them how Pai’s personal characteristic, such as bravery and determination, are what cause her grandfather to accept change and to beg her forgiveness.
Featured Actors: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis;
Director: Niki Caro;
Helpful Background:The Maori people in the film struggle with several of the issues faced by indigenous people all over the globe; they seek to integrate what remains of their traditional ways into a modern society that sees little value in pre-civilization life styles. The conflict can be seen in Native American cultures today and is often the source of individual as well as tribal difficulties.
The Maori number over 600,000 people in New Zealand, a figure that amounts to 14% of the populationof New Zealand today. Most anthropologists believe the tribe migrated nearly 1000 years ago from Hawaiki, one of the Polynesian Islands that could be Hawaii. The tribe was well established in “Aotearoa,” the Maori word for New Zealand, by the time the Europeans arrived in the late 1700s.
British rule over Maori land was established by the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 which granted the Maori people British Citizenship and land rights although considerable territory was confiscated from the tribe.
Maoria tribal history is oral and is passed along, as is individual genealogy, through the Wakapapa, a metaphorical flat surface upon which layers of information can be built upon one another to create an ongoing knowledge of tribal tradition and individual genealogy. Information that has always been important to the tribe, in terms of navigation of the seas, such as knowledge of tides, currents and stars, was carved into walls of houses, called “whares.” These traditions are seen in the film in the grandfather’s rigid adherence to his patriarchial line as well as when he and his son focus on the wooden wall sculptures that line the room in which the scene is staged.
Most viewers will pay special attention to the Maori greeting, seen several time in the film, when two individuals press noses when they meet. This is called “hongi,” a gesture that is the social equivalent of a handshake. Viewers will also notice the tattoos for which the Maori are famous. The tattoos are called “moko” and consist of important symbols that help an individual create an identity. Sometimes they cover only the face; other times they cover the entire body. The moko is predominately for males; it is rare that a woman would have tattoos.
The history of the Maori people as told in the film is an accurate, although abridgedaccount of the myth of Paikea, passed from one generation to the next in stories, dances and songs. Paikea was a favored brother whose life was saved by a whale when his jealous sibling sought to have him killed. Paikea rode to safety on the back of a whale and became the leader who established the Maori tribe. As in many of the indigenous cultures that have been conquered by Europeans, the value of ancestors and reverence of the past shapes Maori consciousness. The film clarifies the attempt by one family of Maori to restore tradition and to find a way to assimilate old ways with the new.
Using Whale Rider in the Classroom:
An artistically and thematically important film, Whale Rider should be shown with as little preparation and interruption as possible within the class schedule. After the students have seen the film, engage in the following Discussion Questions and then assign the suggested projects. Oral presentations can be followed by a deeper look into many of the questions that have been discussed and can lead to well supported essays.
Discussion Questions:
1. Even though grandfather Koro is disappointed by the fact that Pai is a girl and that there is no boy to carry on the tradition of leadership, he grows to love her. What characteristics does she possess that explain his deep affection for her? Suggested response: Pai is intelligent, patient and fun. She shows her grandfather her love for both him and the tribal tradition. She never expresses anger and even when he is cruel and she is deeply disappointed in his refusal to accept her as a potential leader of the tribe, she forgives him for his intransigence. She understands his pain.
2. How do the women in the film deal with the sexism of their tribe? Suggested response: The various women in the film carry on with their lives accepting yet criticizing the thinking of the men. This can be seen when the women play cards and joke about the men. It can be seen in Pai’s grandmother who is highly critical of Koro, yet tolerates him using humor and in sympathy tells her granddaughter, “…he’s got a lot of rules to live by.” She tells Pai that she lets Koro think he is the boss.
3. The metaphor of the rope, as told to Pai by Koro, is important symbolically. Explain the metaphor and the symbol. Suggested response: Koro shows Pai the frayed rope ends and says that each one of the threads represents an ancestor. When all of the threads are woven together they make a strong rope, which then becomes a symbol for the tribe itself.
4. What irony can be found in the episode involving the metaphor of the rope? Suggested response: When Koro tries to use the rope to start an engine, the rope breaks. Pai knots and weaves it together and uses it to starts the engine. Koro is not pleased; he tells her not to do that again and says it is dangerous. The irony here lies in the fact that the rope as seen by Koro breaks but the rope as rewoven by Pai is strong. Koro refuses to see that she is the leader that can pull the tribe together. He thus rejects his own metaphor.
5. What are the reasons that Koro’s first born son, Pai’s father, leaves home and goes to Germany? Suggested response: Pai’s father leaves because he wants to be an artist, an individual, and his own father, Koro, calls his art “souvenirs.” The old man blames him for not producing a son. Pai’s father later tells his daughter that the old man is looking for something that no longer exists. When he tells her that he cannot be what Koro wants, Pai says. “me neither.” Both Koro’s son and granddaughter feel the old man’s disappointment.
6. Pai learns how to use the war sticks, the Taiaha, from her uncle. What is learned about Pai and her uncle in this episode? Suggested response: Viewers learn that Pai is no doubt the leader for which Koro is searching. She is able to defeat a boy who had been learning the art of Taiha from Koro himself. Viewers also learns that the uncle was once a champion, although now he appears to be lazy and fat. His mother says that the cause of this was the misery established in the first born/second born tradition.
7. Hemi’s father comes to see his son for a brief part of the ceremony and then leaves with his friends. What does this suggest about the tribe’s problems? Suggested response: Viewers have seen alcohol present in several scenes involving men. The suggestion is made that young men are failing to measure up to the tribe’s standard of manhood and, like Pai’s uncle and her father, are not adhering to the traditions that Koro values.
8. Pai makes an important point that clearly establishes theme in the speech she delivers in honor of her grandfather:
“I broke the line back to the ancient ones. It wasn’t anybody’s fault, it just happened. But we can learn. And if knowledge is given to everyone, we can have lots of leaders. And soon everyone will be strong, not just the one’s that have been chosen. Because sometimes, even if you’re the leader and you need to be strong, you can get tired like our ancestor Pikea when he was lost at sea and he couldn’t find the land and he probably wanted to die. But he knew the ancient ones were there for him so he called out to them to lift him up and give him strength.”
What idea in this speech offers the solution to the problem faced by both her grandfather and the Maori as a whole? Suggested response: Pai argues on behalf of egalitarian leadership, asserting that anyone with knowledge can be of value to the tribe and that strength can be found in having several leaders rather than one. She clearly asserts that tradition can hinder progress.
9. A rope is seen in the episode in which the villagers try to help the beached whales return to the sea. This is an echo of the earlier metaphor. What idea is reiterated here? Suggested response: The villagers desperately try to help the whales, pulling together as implied by the tribal custom. They fail when the rope breaks and walk away exhausted. However, when Pai climbs atop the whale it responds to her and leads the other whales back to the sea. At this point, even Koro understands that a leader may emerge, not from tradition, but from a worthy individual.
10. What important aspects of character are shown at the film’s end? Suggested response: Koro asks Pai to forgive him; this is important because it shows that he has opened his mind and abandoned his rigid adherence to the old rules. Pai forgives him, of course, and says later that she is no prophet and that she knows the Maori people “will keep going forward all together with all of our strength.” Here she shows the value of humility.
Assignments and Assessments:
Divide the class into small groups and ask them to research one of the following topics for an oral presentation using the technology available in the classroom. They may want to freeze-frame a moment in the film to illustrate a point on cinematography or use the internet to present visuals in support of the history of a culture or a concept. Students can be assessed using the standards to which they are accustomed on depth of information presented and on the quality of the oral report.
1. The Maori tribal history, including controversies and the current effort by the tribe to seek redress for land confiscation.
2. The lives of whales, including the depopulation that has resulted from the whaling industry.
3. The art of tattoo. Include cultural traditions as well as artistic or social customs associated with this form of body art.
4. Culture conflict as it is experienced today by indigenous people. Include efforts to transcend the social barriers that preclude full assimilation and any efforts of indigenous people to remain autonomous.
5. Review the Polynesian Islands in terms of the variety of peoples that have inhabited the many islands in the chain. Pay special attention to the history of the Hawaiian Islands and when they became a part of the U.S.
6. Research myths, especially creation myths, that explain the existence of a people. Show in your presentation the great variety found in the various myths and make clear what each myth attempts to explain.
7. Invent a fictitious island inhabited with a tribe you create. Give it a location, a full geography, a population and a myth that explains how the tribe arrived on the island and what traditions it follows.
8. Research gender roles in a variety of cultures. Contrast them with one another and seek to explain what purpose is served in adhering to a strict set of traditions in regard to these roles.
9. Plan and present a debate on the elimination of gender roles in society.
10. Investigate the gender roles and sexism found in modern societies and show how many of these roles are beginning to change.
After each presentation, engage in a discussion of the information presented in each oral report in terms of how some of the concepts can be found in Whale Rider. The students will begin to see the sophistication of the film once they thoroughly investigate any of the topics suggested for research.