By BRIDGET CARTER
Images of a waka in the movie Whale Rider have prompted the Whangarei District Council to back a project to build its own Maori canoe crafted by local iwi.
At a hui in Whangarei with council staff and local iwi, council parks manager Glenda Bostwick said Whale Rider showed her the waka's importance to Maori.
She successfully appealed to the council to back a waka-building project headed by master carver Wallace Hetaraka.
"I have just seen the film and now I know what it means to Maori," she said.
The waka represents the origin of a Maori tribe and the sacred principles of Maori, issues central to Whale Rider.
The film, New Zealand's second-biggest-grossing movie, is based on Witi Ihimaera's novel about the struggles a young girl, Paikea, has to overcome Maori tradition. The film won the people's choice award at an international film festival in Toronto last year.
Auckland University film studies lecturer Jo Smith said Whangarei District Council's desire to back a waka-building project was a standout example of the after-effects a film could prompt.
"There is often a residue left from film productions that can impact on small communities - if not for the long term, particularly for the short term."
But, there's a downside to film popularity, too.
Since Whale Rider's release, tourists trekked to Whangara, the setting of the film.
But the East Coast settlement of about 12 homes, a marae and a church has no public toilets and no infrastructure to cope with them.
Dr Smith said that reverse side of the waka "has to be put into the mix".
Chairman of the Ngati Whatua runanga in Whangarei Tom Parore said interest in other aspects of Maori culture such as waka ama and kapa haka also had risen as a result of the film.
"It is quite influential in that it has generated enthusiasm to get involved in those projects," he said. "If people are strong in their culture, it generates pride in themselves and generates greater achievement in their own lives."
Wallace Hetaraka said Whangarei had wanted its own waka for some time.
"It will be another tool for educating them [our youth] about their history and culture," said the man who recently finished carving a waka for Dargaville.
Ms Bostwick said the Whangarei District Council had yet to decide what support it would offer to build a local waka.
It would depend on the needs of the local iwi.
The council could help with financial backing, a place to store the waka and material, including kauri logs, to build the vessel.
Herald Feature: Whale Rider
Movie boosts waka plan
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