Video file
The elder in this clip from Whale rider quotes a proverb, ‘He rei ngā niho, he parāoa ngā kauae’ (to have a whale’s tooth, you must also have a whale’s jaw). The item he tosses overboard is known as a ‘rei niho’ – a carved whale tooth worn as a pendant. In this context, the saying means that to retrieve the rei niho from the ocean, you would need to have the strength of a whale.
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by Niki Caro
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