New film honours Ngātiwai whale expert Hori Parata's legacy

A new documentary shines a light on the life work of Ngātiwai kaumātua Hori Parata, capturing a legacy of mātauranga Māori, kaitiakitanga and tino rangatiratanga passed from one generation to the next.

Unlikely Kin, seven years in the making, premiered and officially opened the Doc Edge Festival on Wednesday night, before being taken around the worldwide festival circuit, and later made available on RNZ. An accompanying series exclusive to RNZ will also be released on 3 August on RNZ Video.

The feature documentary follows Hori Parata and his son Te Kaurinui as they undertake the cultural harvesting of stranded tohorā, help protect taonga species, and uphold traditional Māori practices.

It explores the connections between whales, kiore (Polynesian rat) and kauri, while offering an insight into Māori environmental tikanga.

Co-director Michael Jonathan told RNZ what drew him to the kaupapa was the opportunity to tell a story rooted in mātauranga Māori.

"This story's all about sovereignty in so many ways. We've got land, we've got our culture, we've got our te ao Māori practices that have been practised up in the north for such a long time, and not many people know about it."

Aotearoa is regarded by whale experts as the whale stranding capital of the world, with more than 5000 recorded strandings since 1840 and an average of around 300 animals beaching each year.

Rangatira Hori Moanaroa Parata (MNZM) was just seven years old when he attended his first mass stranding in Northland, an early experience that would go on to shape a lifetime of mahi.

He has since overseen more than 500 strandings and is recognised as one of Aotearoa's leading experts in the tikanga surrounding the sacred practice of harvesting stranded whales. He battled to revive whale harvests when they were banned, and the mātauranga nearly died out. His mission is to ensure that this revived traditional knowledge is passed on and continues through the generations.

Within te ao Māori whales are revered as tuākana (elders, or ancestors created long before humans). Te Kaurinui Parata previously told E tu their arrival to shore is understood as part of a spiritual journey, and carries a responsibility for Māori as tēina to care for them, honour them and maintain ancestral relationships.

"We're not motivated by money. We're motivated by the mana. We're there to honour the atua and the tuākana according to our cultural traditions."

Jonathan said at the heart of the documentary was the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next.

"It's about legacy - [Papa Hori] handing down his knowledge to Te Kaurinui, and him taking the mantle as the leader of everything that he does with the whale harvests, with looking after the kiore on Māuitaha Island, to looking after nature."

The film's themes were echoed during a post-screening kōrero, where Hori Parata was joined by Te Kaurinui and other members of his whānau.

Parata's daughter Tanya said the work embodied mana motuhake.

"For me, as a practitioner, the mahi in my time was all about tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga," she said.

"Now in 2026, for me, this is all about my mana motuhake and reality."

She described the documentary as a reflection of succession planning within Māori communities and proof that traditional knowledge systems continue to thrive despite generations of disruption.

"I feel highly privileged to be in the situation that we are in because it's leading the way forward for our people, to show that, we don't need to be constrained and confined by those boundaries.

"And pushing the boundaries is a good thing because complacency makes you lazy. This mahi doesn't. This mahi enriches the energy of everybody who participates.

"It means a lot to do these practices because they contribute to our cultural identity."

The documentary arrives as debate continues over the proposed Conservation Amendment Bill, which would make it easier to exchange or dispose of some conservation land and expand opportunities for economic activity on parts of the conservation estate.

"The timing couldn't be any better. It just brings it back to, we're the proper environmentalists, we're the proper people that should be looking after the land. For Te Kaurinui, for Papa Hori, it's lifelong… for generations," Jonathan said.

The next screening of the film will be on Matariki at Auckland's Capitol Cinema. All other timings for the Festival are on the DocEdge website.