Notes

A story of the battle of Ōrākau
Witi Ihimaera with Hēmi Kelly
Both fiction and fact, this book is an exploration of the Battle of Orakau during three days in 1864, when 300 Maori men, women and children fought an Imperial army. It marked the end of the Land Wars in the Waikato and resulted in vast tracts of land being confiscated for European settlement. This book takes a Maori perspective, centred around Witi Ihimaera's novella, Sleeps Standing, which views the battle through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy named Moetu. Alongside the novella are non-fiction narratives from Maori eyewitnesses, with images and a Maori translation by Hemi Kelly
Parallel text in English and Te Reo Maori