In 1996 I returned to New Zealand and met Māori who was in the process of reversing the colonisation of their people and returning to their ancestral homeland Mangapapapa in the middle reaches of the Whanganui River. At the end of my journey I was given a Māori name, Pouma Pokai-Whenua. Returning 20 years later to rekindle my spiritual kinship with tangata whenua our new book Te Ahi Kā – The Fires of Occupation explore the physical and metaphysical relationship between a river and its ancestors, between Māori and myself. Available for sale worldwide at Dewi Lewis Publishing. https://www.dewilewis.com/…/te-ahi-ka-the-fires-of-occupati…
Official European launch at Paris Photo on Fri 9 Nov with a book signing at 18:00 in the Grand Palais.
Copies for Aotearoa are currently being shipped across the oceans with a launch in mid-November, including a special karakia in Auckland. For all enquiries in New Zealand, including Australia and the South Pacific please contact Oratia Books.
Too many people in the past 22 years have been involved in the making of this book to mention here, but a few individuals needs a special acknowledgement. The incredible book designer Ania Nałęcka-Milach and equally magnificent Rafał Milach for editing a perfect sequence of images from a vast collection of photographs spanning from 1885 to 2017. All whanau and the Trustees of Te Wananga o Mangapapapa Trust for all their support, especially Anahera whose input has been invaluable. Lastly, to my elders Hokio Te-Rangi, Tawhero and Tukaiora – tēnā koutou katoa.
Published with financial support from Creative New Zealand, New Zealand Lottery Grants Board and Te Mana O Te Awa Grant administered by Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui.
