Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank

Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Māhaki

1932 - 2002

Arapera was born in Rangitukia on the East Coast and was educated at Hukarere College, Wellington Teachers’ College and the University of Auckland. In 1959 she won a special prize in the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Awards for the best writing published by a New Zealander between September 1957 and August 1959 with her article entitled "Ko Taku Kumara Hei Wai-U Mo Tama." She was a teacher for twenty-five years and taught at Panguru, Otakou and Singapore, before teaching Māori and Social Studies at Glenfield College and Auckland Girls’ Grammar. Arapera wrote essays, short stories and poems which have appeared in Te Ao Hou, Heritage History Series, Education, Pacific Quarterly Moana and Ocarina (India) and which have been broadcast by Radio New Zealand. She was interviewed on television by Robin Kora on Koha. Arapera observed: "I enjoy words that sparkle, whether they be in Māori, my mother tongue, or English. What a privilege it is to inherit and to appreciate a language, and to enjoy another equally." She wrote under the names Arapera Hineira, Arapera Kaa-Blank, Arapera Hineira Kaa and Arapera Blank.

Biographical sources

  • Assistance from Trixie Te Arama Menzies on behalf of Arapera for biographical and publication details and input on the annotations, 8 Sept. 1998.
  • Te Ao Hou 29 (1959): 4.
  • Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Eds. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann, 1982. 94.
  • Index to NZ Periodicals. Wellington, N.Z.: National Library of New Zealand, 1983-1984.
  • New Women’s Fiction. Ed. Aorewa McLeod. Auckland, N.Z.: New Women’s Press, 1988. 154.
  • "Mana News." http://www.manaonline.co.nz/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000453.html August 1 2002.

    Fiction

  • "Yielding to the New." Te Ao Hou 28 (1959): 8-10. Rpt. in Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and introd. Margaret Orbell. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1970. 99-104. Rpt. in In Deadly Earnest: A Collection of Fiction by New Zealand Women 1870s-1980s. Ed. Trudie McNaughton. Auckland, N.Z.: Century Hutchinson, 1989. 130-134.
  • When Marama leaves her rural community to go to university, her identity and value system are brought into question by the pervasive values of the dominant culture of the city. This story highlights the transitions facing post-War Māori, and the impact of urban migration on Māori identity and Māori rural life.
  • "The Visitors." Hineira. Te Ao Hou 38 (1962): 5-9. Rpt. in Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and introd. Margaret Orbell. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1970. 91-98.
  • A story about social interaction between Māori and Pākehā as Mrs Hemi comes to terms with an unexpected visit of a Pākehā family.
  • "One Two Three Four Five." Māori People in the Nineteen-Sixties. Ed. Erik Schwimmer. Auckland, N.Z.: Blackwood and Janet Paul, 1968. 85-96. Rpt. in Introduction to Māori Education. Ed. John Ewing and Jack Shallcrass. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand UP, 1970. 88-97. An extract rpt. as "Postscript: O Nga Ao E Toru." in My New Zealand: Senior. Auckland, N.Z.: Longman Paul Limited, 1973. 63-66. Includes a foreword and questions by Bernard Gadd. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 141-151.
  • A story of a Māori boy’s first day at school which graphically portrays the fears of a small child entering the foreign world of a classroom. The postscript illustrates the dilemma facing Māori children in straddling a Māori language home environment and the English language arena of the school.
  • "Innocence of Sin." New Women’s Fiction. Ed. Aorewa McLeod. Auckland, N.Z.: New Women’s Press, 1988. 110-116. Written under the name Arapera Hineira. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 152-157.
  • In this story of Mahiti’s arrival at boarding school, subsequent pregnancy and exile from the community, Blank highlights the devastating impact on women of male sexual abuse and objectification of women.
  • "I Kite Tonu Nei Oku Whatu." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 157-159.
  • A powerful depiction of police brutality against a young Polynesian boy returning home after work.
  • "Ahakoa He Aha." He Wai: A Song: First Nation’s Women’s Writing: A Waiata Koa collection. Ed. Trixie Te Arama Menzies. Auckland, N.Z.: Waiata Koa, 1996. 26-30.
  • Trixie Te Arama Menzies writes that this is ‘a hilarious account of an East Coast wedding’ and adds ‘Arapera said after her stroke that she wanted to finish this story. It was the last piece of work she did before her stroke as far as I know, except perhaps for a play, also unfinished and which she did try to finish.’
  • "Ko Amo te Taniwha o Oruamo." He Wai: A Song: First Nation’s Women’s Writing: A Waiata Koa collection. Ed. Trixie Te Arama Menzies. Auckland, N.Z.: Waiata Koa, 1996. 31-34.
  • Trixie Te Arama Menzies writes: "A taniwha story, no doubt inspired by the name of a street near her home in Dakota Ave., Beachhaven, Auckland, which abuts on to a tidal inlet."

    • Non-fiction

  • "Ko Taku Kumara Hei Wai-U Mo Tama.’ Te Ao Hou 24 (1958): 6-8. Written under the name Arapera Blanc.[sic]. Rpt. in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and Waiata Koa, 1986. 2nd ed. 1995. 56-59. Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank.
  • The author notes Maoridom’s "transference from a system of mutual reciprocity to that of a money economy". She nostalgically recalls the former times when Māori communities worked communally, shared resources and could freely attend the various hui, tangi, weddings and fishing excursions. She notes with sadness the changing values and loss of traditions that accompany the incursion of the money-driven individualism of the Western world.
  • "A Glimpse of People, Places and Things." Te Ao Hou 32 (1960): 31+.
  • Written under the name Arapera Blank. Blank writes of her trip to London on an ocean liner and gives a vivid description of life at sea, the curious mix of fellow travellers, and the different ports of call.
  • "Where the Manuka Bends." Polynesian and Pakeha in New Zealand Education. VoI. 2. Ethnic Difference and the School. Ed. Douglas H. Bray and Clement G. H. Hill. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann Educational Books, 1974. 187-191.
  • In this discussion on the relationship between Māori and formal education, Blank examines the changing role of Māori mothers in supporting their children’s pursuit of education since the Second World War. She discusses obstacles that restrict the educational progress of Māori children such as the breakdown of the Māori kinship system, overwork on rural farming communities, the problems associated with bi-lingualism, and denial by some Māori parents of their children’s cultural heritage.
  • "The Role and Status of Māori Women." Women in New Zealand Society. Ed. Phillida Bunkle and Beryl Hughes. Sydney, Austral.: Allen & Unwin, 1980. 34-51.
  • In this comprehensive essay on the role of Māori women, Blank draws from different generations of her iwi and whānau in Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu. Blank discusses the division of labour within the whānau, observes how women achieve status in the hapu and iwi, writes of the role of the Country Women’s Institute and Māori Women’s Welfare League and notes the problems associated with the urbanisation of the Māori population.
  • "The Education of Māori Women." Tu Tangata 10 (1983): 12-14.
  • Drawing on her 25 years of teaching experience, Blank gives an overview of the education of Māori women from the era of her own childhood in the 1930s-40s when women were channelled towards domestic work rather than the pursuit of higher education up to the generation of school leavers from 1975 to 1980. She discusses obstacles to Māori girls’ academic success and concludes that Māori men must now assume greater responsibility for their children’s education and physical and spiritual well-being.
  • He Kōrero mo Waitangi, 1984: He Tohu Aroha, Ki Nga Tupuna: "Talk, Conciliate and Heal". Ed. Arapera Blank, Manuka Henare and Haare Williams. [Ngaruawahia], N.Z.: Te Runanga o Waitangi, 1985.
  • This publication includes the papers, poetry and resolutions arising out of the He Kōrero mo Waitangi hui held at Turangawaewae Marae, Ngaruawahia, from 14-16 September, 1984.

    • Other

  • Burleigh, Lois. Amiria’s Hat: Te Pootae O Amiria. Trans. Arapera Blank. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed Methuen, 1986. In Māori and English.

  • Poetry

  • "Creativity - A Reflection Upon." POET: An International Monthly (May 1974): 14-15. Written under the name Arapera Hineira. Rpt. in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 15-16. Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank.
  • The speaker reflects on the meaning of life and concludes that it involves being linked to a loved one, reproducing and creating "things that are / better than / we are, / but born out of the / union of / two, in / harmony?" The kumara imagery is implicit in the first stanza.
  • "For My Husband On the Occasion of His Birthday." English trans. Arapera. POET: An International Monthly (May 1974): 42. Rpt. in Māori and English as "Waiata Mo Te Tane/ For My Husband On The Occasion Of His Birthday." World Anthology: A Verse Mosaic by Living poets of and for all continents. Comp. Orvile Crowder Miller and Dorothy Munns Miller. Urbana, Illinois: Delora Memorial Fund for World Brotherhood, 1980. 204-205. Rpt. in Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Ed. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann, 1982. 92-93. Rpt. under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank as "Waiata Mo Te Tane/For My Husband." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 18-19.
  • A tribute to a husband who is praised for his creativity, love and understanding.
  • "Conversations With A Ghost 1974-1985 (on Looking at Other People’s Houses)." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 52. Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 137.
  • The speaker mourns the polluting of the landscape which is overrun with strangers. Trixie Te Arama Menzies writes: the poet ‘muses on the irony of having done "what she was told", "followed the kawa", and lived near the sea. But it is damp there, and the cold grips her bones. She names some of the volcanic cones of Auckland: Mt. Eden, Mt. Wellington, where it would be elevated and sunny, and indeed people have built luxury homes on their lower slopes. But she notes that she had been taught to avoid such places because they are burial grounds of the ancestors (paepae kōiwi, whare t˚puna).’
  • "For Helen on the Occasion of her Graduation." Pacific Voices: An Anthology of Writing by and about Pacific People. Ed. Bernard Gadd. Albany, N.Z.: Stockton House, 1977. 51. Written under the name Arapera Hineira.
  • In this poem written with Māori and English versions, the speaker reminds Helen of her ancestry and exhorts her to ‘Be strong!’ and to ‘Be faithful to / Your ancestors.’
  • "E Kore Ahau E Ngaro." Hohi Pine Kaa and Arapera Kaa-Blank. Pacific Moana Quarterly 3.4 (1978): 437.
  • "Freedom - A Dream." The Japonica Sings: Ocarina’s Anthology of New Zealand and World Poetry. 9.11 (1979): 12. Rpt. in Māori and English under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank as "He Wawata Kia Mahorahora/Freedom." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 22-23.
  • The poet longs to be free like a bird - sheltered by the leaves, with the ability to soar and "rise into the sun".
  • "He Kōingo/ A Yearning." Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Eds. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann, 1982. 91-92. Māori text and English translation by Arapera Hinera Blank. Rpt. in The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse. Ed. Ian Wedde and Harvey McQueen. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin, 1985. 363-365. Rpt. under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. as "A Yearning/ He Koingo." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 42-43.
  • In this poem written in Māori with an English translation the speaker writes of desire, satisfying one’s dreams and remaining "true in spirit!"
  • "Rongokako." Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Ed. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann, 1982. 93-94. Rpt. under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 14.
  • A poem extolling the merits of walking barefoot, free from the constriction of shoes and feeling at one with the earth.
  • "To the Peace Movement." Listener 16 Jun. 1984: 12. Rpt. under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 46-47.
  • The speaker muses on the irrational human drive to pursue violence and greed.
  • "Te Tiriti O Waitangi." He Kōrero mo Waitangi, 1984: He Tohu Aroha, Ki Nga Tupuna: "Talk, Conciliate and Heal". Ed. Arapera Blank, Manuka Henare and Haare Williams. [Ngaruawahia]: Te Runanga o Waitangi, 1985. n.pag. Written under the name Arapera Hineira. Rpt. under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 44.
  • A discourse on the shifting balance of power between Māori and Pākehā since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The speaker reflects on the irony of "a warlike race" being overcome "by peaceful means" and being informed that they "got a lovely deal!"
  • "What Can I?" Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 13. Rpt. under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 25-26.
  • The speaker writes of her desire to emulate the self-sacrifice of her mother who loved her unconditionally.
  • "He Whakapono." Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 57.
  • The editorial notes accompanying this poem state that it is "a statement about the aims and objectives of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. It was written for the League conference held at Whangarei, May 1984."
  • "He Wawata Ranei." Haeata Herstory 1985. Auckland, N.Z.: Haeata Herstory Collective, New Women’s Press, 1985. 57.
  • "Ko Wai Tenei?" Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 13.
  • Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. The speaker ponders on her identity and asserts that irrespective of other viewpoints, she knows that she is ‘an Aristocrat, / a romantic, / an independent, industrious, / Woman, a Māori’.
  • "For Someone I Love." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 20.
  • Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. A reflection on the transcending nature of a loving relationship. Trixie Menzies writes that this poem was ‘substantially revised for the second edition under the title "When I walk..." which also constitutes the first three words of the poem. We worked together on the texts. She was crippled by her stroke, but still very alert.’
  • "Woman Prisoner." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 21.
  • Trixie Menzies writes: ‘This poem is about a sculpture – "Carved from a bough of unwanted peach wood" – it’s still at Arapera’s home as far as I know. A friend or relative of Pius carved it, and then asked Arapera to write a poem about it. The woman is imaginatively imprisoned inside the sculpture – reminiscent of a classical story (was it Daphne?) of a nymph in a tree.’
  • "For Pius." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 24.
  • A reflection on the impact of despair on the human spirit, and the blessing of those either "immune... / to heartache" or able to "find new life / through faith in self / and those around them."
  • "Your Birthday Waiata/Your Birthday Waiata." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 28-29.
  • Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. A birthday tribute written in Māori and English to a person remaining unchanged amidst the influx of new worlds.
  • "From Afar. Te Kohanga." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 32-33.
  • Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. The poet recalls in great detail a house set in a beautiful environment.
  • "Aue, Taukuri E!" Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 37.
  • The poet is surprised by her struggle to write and determines not to allow the aging process to sap her writing gift.
  • "Dreamtime." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 38-39.
  • The poet offers a panacea for the times of pain and hopelessness.
  • "Ki Tetahi Tangata Kai-Ngakau/To Sensitive Person." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 40-41.
  • A poem of thanksgiving to the sensitive person who interpreted to the speaker "the many facets / of the Pakeha world!" This poem also contains the kumara imagery.
  • "Inhumanity." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 45.
  • An expression of the downward dehumanising cycle of an automated industrialised world.
  • "After Watching Father Re-Uniting With Sons in Prison." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 48.
  • The poet portrays the tension and nervousness of a father visiting his sons in prison and the delicacy required to usher in the healing of fractured relationships. Trixie Menzies writes: ‘again the kumara imagery is employed, overt in the first stanza, implicit in the last in the words "delicate threads". Arapera saw this scene enacted on TV… In the last stanza, the three lines of Māori are translated in the next four lines - a variation on the parallel composition noted by Joan Metge in her Foreword. Is this sort of thing ‘macaronic’? – or an avant-garde form of NZ English?’
  • "Confrontation." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 49.
  • Trixie Menzies writes this is ‘a real-life confrontation with a headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, the prestigious boys’ school in Auckland, seen perhaps as the bastion of white male supremacy…. [who] had publically made disparaging remarks about the work habits of Māori students.’
  • "Ki Te Iwi Takahi Kawa/To Amoral Beings." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 50-51. Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. Rpt. in Below The Surface, Words and Images in Protest at French Testing on Moruroa. Ed. Ambury Hall. Auckland, N.Z.: Vintage, Random House, 1995.
  • A short, terse poem written with Māori and English versions in the manner of the cursing poems of traditional Māori literature. Trixie Menzies writes ‘Arapera changed the translation of the title from "To Amoral Beings" to "To The Insensitive" for the second edition of Nga Kokaka Huataratara. Literally it means "To those who trample on kawa" ("correct and honourable procedures")’.
  • "The Hui Topu - Synod, Ruatoria." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 53-54.
  • Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. A description of the atmosphere, aroha and ritual of the Hui Topu at Ruatoria.
  • "Suffering A Literary Examination." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 55.
  • The speaker bewails the difficulties faced in a literary exam, contemplates the literary proclivities of the examiners, and humorously acknowledges that if Mills and Boon were recognised in literary circles ‘[t]his cursed exam would be a breeze!’
  • "Or Choosing A Career." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 55
  • A poem criticising the greater honour and opportunity given to the academically gifted in society.
  • "Relief." Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 56.
  • The excited sentiments of a person escaping from the drudgery of household affairs.
  • "Where is that Sun?" Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. Auckland, N.Z.: Arapera Blank and the Waiata Koa Trust, 1986. 57.
  • The speaker reflects on the complexities and busyness of life, and the nearness of death.
  • "Rangitukia Reminiscences: Soul Place." ibid. 61-64. Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. Rpt. in The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/ Nga Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Books, 1989. 209-212. Rpt. as "Soul Place" in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 138-141.
  • The speaker recalls with affection the significant places of her tribal and childhood home on the East Coast at Rangitukia, and remembers the unsympathetic teachers who had little understanding of the Māori ways.
  • "Expression Of An Inward Self With A Lino Cut." ibid. 17. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 135. Rpt. in Below The Surface, Words and Images in Protest at French Testing on Moruroa. Ed. Ambury Hall. Auckland, N.Z.: Vintage, Random House, 1995.
  • In this poem the speaker realises that within the simplicity of her origins are the fundaments of living and loving well, and seeing the kumara vine reduplicating those values into future generations. Trixie Menzies writes that she chose this poem for inclusion in Below the Surface "as an affirmation of life, in antithesis to the destructive outcomes of French nuclear testing."
  • "Weihnacht - Switzerland." ibid. 27. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 136.
  • The poet focuses on the imagery of a liturgy celebrated in Switzerland at Christmas time.
  • "Bone Song/Bone Song." ibid. 30-31. Rpt. in Māori only in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 134-135.
  • In this poem, written with Māori and English versions, the poet speaks of her ancestral connections throughout New Zealand and greets Keri Hulme and her The Bone People. Trixie Menzies adds: ‘Arapera points out the obligations of hospitality, and asserts her right to point it out. She greets not only Keri Hulme but also her sister Keri Kaa.’
  • Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and Waiata Koa, 1986. 2nd ed. 1995.
  • Written under the name Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank. This poetry collection is divided into three sections: 14 Waiata Kāinga/Soul Songs, 18 Waiata Whiriwhiri/Meditative Songs, and the concluding Rangitukia Reminiscences/Soul Place. Eight of the poems are written in both Māori and English and printed on facing pages. Blank’s poems explore issues of Māori female identity, relationships, inequalities, and Māori political and land issues. Her work has humour and imaginative use of language, and she employs a macaronic style of interspersing Māori and English in her poems.
  • "Te Putake Mai O Te Pu Harakeke/Who Is Important?" ibid. 50-51. Rpt. in He Wai: A Song: First Nation’s Women’s Writing: A Waiata Koa collection. Ed. Trixie Te Arama Menzies. Auckland, N.Z.: Waiata Koa, 1996.
  • This poem, with Māori and English versions, is dedicated to the Māori Women’s Welfare League and is an assertion of the pivotal role of women in the universe. Trixie Menzies writes it was ‘written after getting bored with a repetitive phrase, ie the old whakatauki.’
  • "Te Putatara." Te Putatara: A Newsletter For The Kumara Vine 2.90 (1990) http://maorinews.com/putatara/puta_025.html 31 Oct. 2007.

  • Reviews

  • Cowley, J. and Blank, A. "We Are The Bone People." Rev. of The Bone People, by Keri Hulme. Listener 12 May 1984: 60.
  • "Identity Parade." Rev. of Cast Two Shadows, by Joan Rosier-Jones. Listener 7 Sept. 1985: 56.

    Other

  • "Māori Writer Wins Major Award." Te Ao Hou 29 (1959): 4. Rpt. in Nga Kokako Huataratara: The Notched Plumes of the Kokako. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Arapera Blank and Waiata Koa, 2nd ed. 1995.
  • This article notes that Arapera was a winner in the 1959 Katherine Mansfield Memorial Competition for the best short article published by a New Zealander between September 1957 and August 1959. Trixie Te Arama Menzies notes: ‘There is a mistake in this article which got carried forward. Arapera attended Hukarere, not Queen Vic.’
  • Erai, Michelle, Fuli, Everdina, Irwin, Kathie and Wilcox, Lenaire. Māori Women: An Annotated Bibliography. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Michelle Erai, Everdina Fuli, Kathie Irwin and Lenaire Wilcox, 1991. 3, 4.

  • Reviews

    Nga Kokako Huataratara
  • Direen, Bill. "To Scale." Listener 17 Feb. 1996: 45.
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