Whale Song: The Significance of Whales in Māori Instrumental Music
Abstract
Taonga pūoro (Māori musical instruments) play a key role in Witi Ihimaera's novel "The Whale Rider" (1987).Their voices enable the Māori characters to communicate and commune (or 'interlock' to use Ihimaera's term) with whales, and by extension with ancestors and deities -particularly with Tangaroa, God of the Ocean.This contribution explains some of the uses and meanings of taonga pūoro in connection with whales, which helps contextualise and deepen understanding of how they are discussed in Ihimaera's classic novel.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Diverse Musicological Studies
Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
Literary
Cultural
Historical Analysis
Publication details
- Journal / source
- transcript Verlag eBooks
- Pages
- 185–192
- Publication date
- 9 January 2026
- Document type
- Book chapter