An Open Letter to Witi Ihimaera.

Dear Mr Ihimaera,

First off, I did not like the Whale Rider. While I respect your writing, and can see why many people enjoy it, your overuse of metaphors, similes, and other various descriptive language features turn what seemed like a good story idea into a piece of overly poetic writing which I could not enjoy.

Right. Now I've got that out of the way, I can get to it. The Whale Rider addresses the loss of cultural identity in a few ways. I'm sure you know this. I have to ask, is loss of cultural identity really that bad? Is cultural identity more important than personal identity?

Sure, cultural identity doesn't have to be lost for your own personal identity. But a lot of the time, it is. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that culture is overly unnecessary. It is good to know about your heritage, and how things were, but that's all it is. How things were. Some of these cultural ideas may be relevant in the present, but in this age of growing atheism, many cultural ideas are frowned upon. Older cultures, such as your own, no doubt, are based mainly on religion. As Richard Dawkins points out flawlessly, religion is no source for morals or any other use today. I have no way of knowing for sure whether women in Maori culture are treated as they were in your story, but if they are, it is only another point in my case. Another reason for the loss of cultural identity being a good thing.

In today's day and age, culture is not valued very highly. It can be used endlessly, and hence, it has lost value. Sure, it defines who you are. But, you don't need to have culture to identify yourself.

There are various other ways to do this. In the choices you make, the things you do, the acquaintances you make.

But, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Everyone is welcome to share their opinions. If you choose to do so in a story, be my guest. But, when the story is studied in schools, I feel I must share my opinion.

So, while your story can be interpreted as good, it is not for me. This is also true for your view on cultural identity.

Sincerely

~Ashm