Denver Public Library: Okareka Dance

The Denver Public Library recommends these library resources to enhance your experience with Okareka Dance at the Newman Center.

READ

Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble                                                                                                                The first Māori writer to have been published in The New Yorker, Tibble has won awards for this book that remixes Greek and feminist mythologies through the experiences of Māori women. The poems and essays explore colonialism and identity for four generations of women, starting with her and imagining back to her great grandmother’s time. In 2022, Tibble’s travels brought her to meet Coast Salish people, which you can explore in the book below.

Tauhou by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall                                                                                                            This hybrid novel imagines Māori and Coast Salish cultures blended into a version that represents the author’s own heritage. Each chapter is a short vignette, a taste of history or poetry or prose, connected through the characters. Family relationships and historical currents weave in and out to describe an imaginative mosaic full of longing.

WATCH

Lifeways of Australia and the Pacific, The Great Courses (2016)                                                          The Pacific islands represent perhaps the last great chapter in humanity's colonization of the globe. The vast Pacific made migration slow until comparatively recently, yet seafaring technologies allowed many Polynesian societies to flourish. Study the aboriginal people of Australia and New Zealand, and then learn about chiefdoms in Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, and more. Stream it on Kanopy, free to all Denver residents with your library card.

LISTEN

The Rough Guide to Music Without Frontiers (2014)                                                                             The Rough Guide is a music collection from Indigenous, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples organizations from throughout the world. A mix of styles, beats, contemporary, and traditional voice and instruments are collected in this CD, a compilation that strives to tell the story of individuals and unify people under the umbrella of humanity.

DOWNLOAD

Choose both the Croft Family’s “Maori Favorites” album and several musical recordings of Dennis Marsh, New Zealand's best-selling country music artist. Listen on Freegal, a music service with free access through your library card.