Potiki

The Prologue tells the story of the creation of a Maori wharenui meeting-house, which will, as the book unfolds, become one of the focal points of the narrative. It describes the life of a carver who devotes himself to building houses for his people, and to carving his ancestors out of wood, so that his people’s forbearers can be remembered. At the age of 10, his parents wrap him in scarves and position him at the elbow of a master carver, whom the boy observes closely for years. When the boy turns 14, the master carver makes him a mallet and instructs him to unwrap himself from the scarves and start work, advising him of two important rules to observe: “Do not carve anyone in living memory and don’t blow on the shavings or your wood will get up and crack you” (9).

As he grows up, the boy becomes “master of his craft” (9), as well as a “great storyteller” (9). Towards the end of his life, as he is working on “what he knew would be the last house he would ever carve” (9), his people grant him the honor of deciding which ancestor the last poupou (carved wooden figure) that will adorn the house should represent.