Why did witi ihimaera write the seahorse and the reef?

Answer 1

Witi Ihimaera wrote the seahorse and the reef to highlight another Maori issue. Maori have always been protectors of the land, they look after Papa, and they look after the moana and everything in them. They never take to much, and always have held respect for the land. When European Pakeha came to New Zealand, Maori no longer had as much control over the land. They could not protect the moana from becoming poisoned or their forests being cut down. During the 1900s New Zealand under went a huge change. New Zealand became more industrialized, globalized. It caused a huge cultural clash, that is still happening today, because of the vastly different values held by each culture. In the book, Ihimaera illustrated the cultural clash by the erecting of the warning sign, and in the conclusion, the Maori culture was the seahorse, and the effluent European ideals and values (of globalisation and industrialisation), the seahorse was getting poisoned by them and there were no means of escape.

Answer 2

To protect his land