Wellington Whales: Tales and Tails

As I was walking along Courtenay Place in Wellington, I found several whales that were part of the sidewalk.   The grey whales with beautiful blue eyes give the brick sidewalk a nice touch.  There are other whales in Wellington as well, from street art to sculptures.  A pillar in the city shows bricks falling away to reveal a whale tail in the ocean.  The “Tail of the Whale” bronze statue is at home on a prominent walkway beside the ocean.  An orca greets visitors to the beach.  These whales serve as a constant reminder of how the whale has played a role in the history of New Zealand.  Over the years, the whale has defined the culture of New Zealand by playing a role in the tale of their ancestor’s origin and being a driving economic force.

The movie Whale Rider by Niki Caro explained the Maori creation story of how the ancestor Paikea rode a great whale from Hawaiki to the island of New Zealand.  In the movie, the whales are regarded as sacred beings, and the young girl Pai, a rising leader, is able to communicate with them and call on them for help (Whale Rider).  The whale is central to the religion of the Maori and provides an explanation of how the Maori came to be on New Zealand.  While I have not yet encountered anyone who believes the story literally, there are many people who enjoy tales similar to this one.

Wellington has its own creation story of how Maui went fishing with his brothers and caught a huge stingray.  When he pulled up the stingray, it became the North Island.  Both the tour guide of the Wellington Museum and the tour guide at parliament seemed particularly fond of the Maui story.  In both cases, their faces lit up while they were telling the tale.  Neither tour guide was Maori, but they seemed to be personally familiar with the story, presumably since this is the kind of story that appears in Wellington children’s books.  The story has become part of Wellington culture, and it is likely that a similar fondness surrounds the Paikea whale story.  The museum guide said that other cities have similar creation stories, and I hope I will be able to hear more of them in Rotorua and Auckland.  Furthermore, I am eager to gain a Maori perspective on these stories and learn whether they perceive them in a different way.  I would like to know whether any Maori still use these stories to explain the origin of the land.

Whales were one of primary economic exports during the 19^th century.  As we learned in class, sealers and whalers were among the first inhabitants of New Zealand. Belich goes further to explain that whales were the driving force being the Industrial Revolution of New Zealand, and they were used to create oil for lubricating machines and oil for lamps.  In addition, the whalebone became a symbol of affluence, and people created whalebone necklaces (Belich 127).  I saw whalebone necklaces for sale for over one hundred dollars in the Maori Art Gallery, indicating that today they remain a symbol of affluence.  The whales determined the types of men who came to New Zealand and shaped the economy over time.

Finally the whale in the city turns thoughts to nature and the Kiwis’ love for it.  New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  From the picturesque mountains covered in emerald ferns and shrouded by a long white cloud to the deep blue Pacific lapping the sandy beach, this place resembles every kind of paradise.  Perhaps the beauty of this land is one reason that Kiwis strive so hard to conserve it.   New Zealand is way ahead of the United States from an environmental perspective.  I hope that one day soon the United States will be as environmentally conscious as Wellington is now.  Environmentalism is another aspect of the Kiwi culture that whales have influenced.

Whales are as integral to the culture of New Zealand as they are to the sidewalk.

Belich, James. "The European Discovery of New Zealand." Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders, from Polynesian Settlement to the End of the Nineteenth Century. Honolulu: U of Hawai'i, 1996. 117-39. Print.

Whale Rider. Dir. Niki Caro. Perf. Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton. South Pacific Pictures, ApolloMedia Distribution, Pandora Filmproduktion, 2002. ShareStream. Web. 23 Dec. 2015.