Some people have a commercial association with a place while
others are rooted, grounded to land they grow up around. For some land is a
matter of sale, purchase and profit. For others it is a concern of memories,
feelings and relationships.
This was the primary difference in attitude of the father and
the Maori’s towards land in the short story the People Before.
For the father the place had a commercial value. They had “bought
it for a song” shows the value of the land only from money point of view. For
him it was important that the land was cheap.
For the Maoris on the other hand, the land had a lot of
value. They come back to the place for an old man to die for he had been born
on that land.
