Ko Puripāha te tapanga ka tukuna ki Te Pane Kaewa, ā, ki Te Tairāwhiti o Aotearoa e pakanga ana ētahi kokoro tokorua kia whakawahia hai pane.
Ko Tamihana te upoko o te whānau toa o Mahana, he whānau kuti hipi, he whānau hākinakina hoki. Ko Rupeni Poata tōna ito. He rite tonu te tūtakitaki a ngā whānau nei i ngā mahi hākinakina, i ngā whakataetae ā-ahurea me te whakataetae Piriho Kōura e kitea ai te māpu kuti hipi toa katoa o Aotearoa. I waenganui pū, ko te taitama, ko Himiona, ko te mokopuna a te kokoro rāua tahi ko tōna kuia, ko Ramona, e pakanga ana i ōna ake kare ā-roto, i ōna ake whakapono anō hoki i te riri e tutū ana i ngā wāhi katoa.
Ko te toa o te 1995 Montana New Zealand Book Award, kua whakatinanatia hirahiratia ki te kiriata o Mahana, ā, e aroha nuitia ana e ngā whakareanga kaipānui maha. Mā tēnei whakamāoritanga e tūtaki ai tētahi minenga hou ki a Puripāha, ki tētahi o ngā tino pukapuka o roto i tōna momo.
Bulibasha is the title given to the King of the Gypsies, and on the East Coast of New Zealand two patriarchs fight to be proclaimed the king.
Tamihana is the leader of the great Mahana family of shearers and sportsmen and women. Rupeni Poata is his arch enemy. The two families clash constantly, in sport, in cultural contests and, finally, in the Golden Fleece competition to find the greatest shearing gang in New Zealand. Caught in the middle of this struggle is the teenager Simeon, grandson of the patriarch and of his grandmother Ramona, struggling with his own feelings and loyalties as the battles rage on many levels.
Winner of the 1995 Montana New Zealand Book Award, brilliantly realised in the film Mahana and loved by generations of readers, this powerful te reo Māori translation of a New Zealand classic will introduce Bulibasha to a whole new audience.