Sky Dancer by Witi Ihimaera

Witi Ihimaera is a New Zealand Maori and a major Pacific writer. He is a former diplomat who has served with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Canberra, New York and Washington. He now lives in Auckland and lectures in the English Department at the University of Auckland, specialising in creative writing and the literatures of New Zealand and the South Pacific.
His novels include The Uncle's Story, the award-winning The Matriarch, winner of the Wattie/Montana Book of the Year Award and The Dream Swimmer. He has also edited a major five-volume collection of new Maori fiction and non-fiction, called the Te Ao Marama series. His first play, Woman Far Walking, premiered in 2000 at the International Festival of Arts, Wellington. He is currently embarking on a large-scale project: the researching and rewriting of the Maori Myths and Legends, to be published in three volumes.