This compelling novel will resonate for people everywhere who find their livelihood threatened by Dollarmen -- property speculators advocating golf courses, high rises, shopping malls, and tourist attractions. In Potiki, one community's response to attacks on their ancestral values and symbols provides moving affirmation of the relationship between land and the people who live on it.

Ng?ti Toa chief Te Rauparaha is pursued by his enemies and fears for his life. At Lake Rotoaira, he is hidden in a k?mara pit, and Te Rangikoaea, a woman of great power, sits in front of its entrance. As he hears his enemies, Te Rauparaha whispers in the dark "Will I die?' Will I live?", but his enemies cannot find him, and he climbs back to the sunlight.