Arrival of waka hourua an emotional moment
Excitement was building among iwi Māori in Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui (the top of the South Island) as they prepared to recreate a scene lived out by their earliest ancestors in Aotearoa.
Stationed around Kaiteriteri/Kaiteretere beach, mana whenua were due to welcome up to 100 visitors from across Te Ika-a-Māui (the North Island) tomorrow , as they arrived on four waka hourua; double-hulled craft of the kind used by the first Polynesian settlers around 800 years ago.
The pōwhiri heralded the start of a week-long festival celebrating waka hourua; Te Hau Kōmaru.
The festival started in Te Ika-aMāui in 2021 and was being held in Te Waipounamu (the South Island) for the first time.
Nuki Tākao was among the wahine preparing to take their place on the beach to deliver karanga (calls), as tane with pūmoana (conch shells) kept watch for the waka from the hills.
She was “deeply happy” to be part of the event, which she said would remind local iwi, hapū and whānau they were people of the moana (sea).
“When those pūmoana go off on all of the high points of these hills around the bay, it’s hundreds of years since that happened,” she said.
“That was how our people let each other know that they had arrived.”
One of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, and home to a pā sit, Kaiteretere didn’t currently feel like a Māori cultural space, she said.
“But the sand is the same sand our tupuna (ancestors) stood on, and the sea is the same sea that they came in on ... so it’s the sound that will reclaim this space as Māori.”
Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa Ki Te Tau Ihu (Te Ātiawa) were the mana whenua iwi of Kaiteretere with Ngāti Tama having an association with Kaiteretere through participation in significant events, and Ngāti Apa having an historical relationship with Kaiteretere before 1827.
Waka ama would usher in the waka hourua, due to arrive at around 8am from Nelson, having travelled there from Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier and Auckland.
The anchor stone from Kupe's canoe, Maungaroa, was being transported to the beach for the occasion from Te Papa in Wellington.
Tents would then be erected on the campground next to the beach, ahead of a public open day on Sunday, with activities including craftmanship and the chance to board a waka on the beach.
Over 20 schools from Te Tau Ihu and at least one from Christchurch would attend workshops through the week, covering topics like navigation, with students from Whenui Iti Outdoors guiding the school groups.
Another public open day was scheduled for Saturday 13.
Mana whenua Barney Thomas said the arrival of the kaupapa in the region was cause for celebration, helping people learn more about how the first settlers got here. “All of our iwi came by waka. They didn’t use compasses, they used the stars.”
Member of local trust, Te Tai O Awatea, Keri Tākao said it was important to keep alive mātauranga (knowledge) about the waka, which had sailed to the other side of the Pacific Ocean many times. “What helps us with that is when we have the physical presence of these great navigational waka actually coming, rather than us just telling our children about it.”
Te Hau Kōmaru National Waka Hourua Charitable Trust, which created the festival, said Māori ancestors traversed the vast Te Moananui a Kiwa (Pacific Ocean) for over 4000 years before arriving in Aotearoa.
Regional board member, Waka Abel Tasman co-owner Todd Jago said the festival was about the passing on the knowledge that was nearly lost.
Support from the local community had been amazing, he said.
School liaison Maihi Barber said it was the first time students in the area would have the opportunity to “get a taster of what our tupuna mastered”.
Local school students would also take part in the pōwhiri tomorrow.
Toi Māori co-ordinator, Sean Delany said having the festival come to the region was spurred by local iwi aspirations and kōrero spanning several years.
“Hopefully we will ... help to turn hearts.
“It’s our kids that will help to lead that charge.”
Public screenings of three pūrakau, local stories of tāngata whenua, lasting about half an hour each are due to be projected off the water at Kaiteretere:
Te Hekenga The journey of the people of the whenua, 7pm Sunday. Rākaihautū and Huriawa The calling of our taniwha Huriawa, 7pm Wednesday, April 10.