Potiki

The Maori community try to put the land development work being carried out on the hills behind them to the back of their minds and focus instead on their livelihood, which consists of farming and fishing. Roimata describes an evening on which, as usual, she accompanies Hemi out to sea on the dinghy, to retrieve the fishing nets before the forecast wind and rain starts. She enjoys the hard work of rowing, as well as the sensation of the sea water “wetting face, hair and clothes, stinging and cold” (111). She controls the oar while Hemi pulls in the nets, which have caught a small snapper and a good yield of kahawai, a staple of the Maori diet.

Meanwhile, the children wait for Hemi and Roimata on the beach, where they have made a fire to provide light for the returning boat. They help Hemi and Roimata bring the dinghy on to the shore and clean the fish before carrying it to the wharekai (dining hall), where the “smell of hot food” (114) welcomes them all.

That evening, it begins to rain heavily, flooding the garden and some of the houses, and washing away one side of the urupa (burial ground).