Tramping Literature: Uprising by Nic Low

 A Maori perspective on crossing the Southern Alps...

I enjoy reading books about the outdoors with particular interest in tramping, camping, climbing and outdoor skills and anything dealing with outdoor history. I recently read an excellent book by Kiwi author Nic Low entitled Uprising that I would like to recommend to you.

Uprising by Nic Low

Uprising is about a series of journeys Nic undertook around the South Island following the old Pounamu/Greenstone trails from the East Coast to the West Coast over the Southern Alps. There was a lively trade in pre European times between the two coasts with Pounamu/Greenstone ( a type of Jade) being one of the main trade items. 

About the author:

Nic Low is a writer of Ngai Tahu and European descent who was born in the South Island but now lives in Australia. He writes about wilderness, technology and Maori issues and has been widely published both in book form and articles in magazines and newspapers. 

The author Nic Low in his element...

Nic is a keen tramper, outdoor person and climber with a notable list of accomplishments. He has won several awards for his literary work and his style is engaging and very easy to read.

About the book: Uprising...

 Nic decided to write a book about the many traditional Maori pathways which exist from the east to west coasts of the South Island. There was a well established set of routes which the local Iwi called Ngai Tahu used to transit the Southern Alps. As you can imagine these routes were difficult and hazardous to use...and not to be undertaken lightly. 

Arthurs Pass was a traditional Maori route to the West Coast

Prior to European settlement one of the most prized materials in New Zealand was Pounamu...a type of local Jade.  Pounamu is a handsome, very hard rock and can be sharpened and shaped into many forms meaning it was useful for weapons, tools and decorative items. 

A Pounamu warclub or Mere

Pounamu is only found in the rivers on the West Coast mainly south of Hokitika. Trade in the material was strong and possession of the source of the rock a guarded secret. Pounamu was the main reason Maori crossed the Southern Alps.

Map: Pounamu deposits in the South Island

Pounamu/Greenstone was a valued commodity...

Journeys across the Alps were also undertaken to gather seasonal food, for war and to visit relatives on either coast. Far from being untouched virgin wilderness the area was named, known and owned long before Europeans arrived on the scene. 

Lake Brunner was one of many valued seasonal food sources

Nic's journey was informed by Ngai Tahu's traditional oral histories of the land they lived in and this was an important facet of the planning. This was combined with modern maps of the terrain and the experiences of others who had crossed these pathways before him. 

He crossed the Southern Alps more than a dozen times and tried to see the land as those first travelers must have seen it. The whole book is infused with the culture and history of the local Maori which is rare in books about the outdoors even in New Zealand. 

Hurunui/Harpers Pass was the main route to the West Coast

Covering many different areas of the Southern Alps the author crossed over some of the well known passes such as Arthurs Pass, Harpers Pass and Haast Pass and some lesser known like Harmon Pass, Copland Pass and Whitcombe Pass. Interestingly all of these passes had Maori names long before they were named after European explorers and settlers. 

In the Upper Waimakiriri Valley...the route to Harmon Pass

This was a book I could not put down...it was enthralling. I have talked to others who have read it and their sentiments were the same. It is an interesting, compelling and revealing look at a part of Maori culture very few people truly understand. I cannot recommend it to you more strongly. This should be an essential item on every trampers bookshelf.