Guardian of the Dead (47 page)

If you're interested in reading more about M
ori mythology and cosmology, I especially recommend:
Traditional
M
ori Stories: He K
rero M
ori
(introduced and translated by Margaret Orbell) and
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of M
ori
Myth and Legend
, also edited by Orbell; the
Reed Book of
M
ori Mythology
by A.W. Reed and Ross Calman; and
Wahine
Toa: Women of M
ori Myth
by Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa. If you'd like to read more young-adult fiction that draws on M
ori mythology as inspiration for contemporary stories, Witi Ihimaera's
The Whale Rider
and Joanna Orwin's
The Guardian of the Land
are fantastic. Gaelyn Gordon's
Stonelight
and the sequel
Mindfire
are contemporary fantasy adventures that show the patupaiarehe in a much more positive light. Dylan Horrocks's graphic novel
Hicksville
features Te Ika a M
ui (very much alive) and is just generally wonderful. If you can get your hands on it, I also recommend the excellent television horror/drama series
Mataku
, where contemporary New Zealanders encounter the M
ori supernatural – much of it is based on stories maintained in the oral tradition rather than those recorded in writing.

Finally, I caution the reader against drawing parallels between the mythological constructs depicted here and contemporary M
ori society. This novel is greatly indebted to M
ori mythology and draws on some points of traditional M
ori social and religious custom: it touches only very lightly on the diverse cultures, politics, and history of modern M
ori life, and that only as seen through the eyes of a seventeen-year-old P
keh
woman, who is very far from being a reliable narrator.