Paikea the new chief

For this essay I am going to discuss about the character "Paikea or Pai" from the movie "Whalerider" by Niki Caro. Pai is the main character of the film, the movie revolves around her.Pai is very important in the film not only because she is the next chief but also because she symbolises that a leader can come from anyone. Paikea or Pai is the descendant of the Whalerider also named Paikea, she is the daughter of Pourorangi and the grandaughter of Koro and Nanny Flowers. All of her life she sees herself as being 'not enough' because her grandfather , Koro, cannot see her as the new generation's chief. Though her grandfather cannot see it, she possesses the characteristcs of a great chief such as bravery, cleverness and the passion for her culture. This is seen various times in the movie but the part that had an impact on me was when she rode the chief whale to sea to save the whales that had beached themselves. The other scene was when she did her speech without Koro even though the speech was meant for him , we see her crying and sobbing while doing her speech but she was brave enough to finish it. When Pai rode the whale out to sea only then did her grandfather realise his mistake for denying her of the role she was meant to take over. We see that when Nanny Flowers gives him the tooth he asks "Which one?" making Nanny Flowers reply "What do you mean which one" then she leaves and we see him stare at the direction the chief whale was going. Pai was ready to die because she knew that riding the whale out to the vast ocean was suicidal but she did it because they believe that the whales are their ancestors and are important. We see that in the next scene when she and her grandfather are now in a hospital room and that Pai is now wearing the whale tooth meaning her grandfather now accepts her as the new chief. Anjelika

Photo by Catherine Love