Latest news with #waka
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Chatham Islands waka find detailed in new report
Rēkohu-Wharekauri-Chatham Island waka excavation site Photo: Supplied/Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage A new report has shed light on the potential origins of a partially excavated waka in the Chatham Islands. The report concluded the waka was of pre-European construction and likely from a time before significant cultural separation between Aotearoa and the Pacific. But questions around the exact age and size of the waka remain, and experts recommend the Chatham Island community be properly resourced to uncover the vast majority of the waka that remains buried in the sand. The report , He Waka Tipua , was prepared in May 2025 by an expert panel: Professor Sir Derek Lardelli, Kiwa Hammond, Heemi Eruera, Dr Kahutoi Te Kanawa and Dr Gerard O'Regan. It provided observations and insights on the potential provenance of the waka partially excavated on Rēkohu-Wharekauri. The panel visited Chatham Island in April, meeting with representatives from Hokotehi Moriori Trust and Moriori Imi Settlement Trust, representatives from Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri, as well as with Vince and Nikau Dix, who first discovered the waka. Pou Mataaho o Te Hononga Deputy Secretary Māori Crown Partnerships at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Glenis Philip-Barbara (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Uepōhatu) said they were only beginning to understand the significance of the waka based on the approximately 5 to 10 percent of it that has been recovered so far. "[It] gives us just an indication of how important it is, but not enough information to draw any reliable provenance theories. So we've got just enough to get our curiosity going but not enough to be able to tell the story." This was a story of human endeavour that had the potential to be something extraordinary for Rēkohu/Wharekauri to contribute to the world and what we think we know about human settlement, she said. "We are hugely curious to understand how we came to be in the places we are, so we've got just a little indication here and a very clear direction from the experts... that we need to recover the rest and get on with uncovering the rest of the story because there is more to come." Kiwa Hammond, the imi Moriori representative on the expert panel, described the waka as 'our Hawaikitanga' - an embodiment that tīpuna and karapuna carried for thousands of years as they migrated across the Pacific. "It really did challenge things that we as indigenous peoples of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa that we have accepted... but it also made us go, 'What is that? Why is that? Why is that there and what is it telling us?'" The rediscovery of the waka was of global significance because it will help us to better understand how the ancestors of Moriori operated, and exactly what went into them getting here, he said. "I mean let's be very clear - there was nothing accidental about any of their voyages," Hammon said. "The whole notion that people drifted from one location to another is a fallacy when you understand the scale of this enterprise and what was involved and what we've seen is a fraction of this waka." Hammond said it was a privilege to be able to look at the pieces of the waka and appreciate how much work and knowledge went into them. It helped the panel to appreciate just how much planning - not just weeks or months, but years - would have gone into the creation of this waka, he said. And Hammond believed it was quite likely the people who built the waka worked on more than one at a time and had whole production lines. "I liken them to a cruise liner, an ancient cruise liner, because when you consider that these waka could have anything up to 100 people, that's how big they were and I think that's something we don't quite comprehend. "As our tīpuna were traversing Te Moana Nui a Kiwa they were doing this on massive crafts, these were huge vessels." Dr Kahutoi Te Kanawa, Professor Sir Derek Lardelli and Nikau Dix at the creek near the excavation site. Photo: Supplied/Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage Based on what had been recovered to date, it was clear the Chatham Island waka was unique. The panel named it as a 'waka tuitui' - an old term for planked waka that had been stitched or lashed together. On the New Zealand mainland, the availability of large trees such as giant kauri and tōtara saw planked waka technology give way to the large single-hull dugouts that early European voyagers observed. Hammond said often there was a misconception around the type of technology and techniques that were used when constructing the ships that brought Moriori and Māori ancestors from the Pacific. "As they were travelling around different parts of the world they made use of resources that were there and they honed their knowledge, they honed their understanding of what was the best way of making use of the resources they had at hand." The planked waka was a kind of technology that had not been seen in Aotearoa for a very long time, he said. A plank of a stitched waka recovered from a swamp in Anaweka, north Westland, was the only fragment found in Aotearoa confidently identified as of a 'voyaging' waka until the Chatham Island find. Philip-Barbara said she was hugely grateful to the whānau of Wharekauri Station who discovered the waka, and who - with community on the island - poured their heart and soul into uncovering its story. "I'm in awe, quite excited but also feeling there is a burden of responsibility here that we have to work through." There was a day-to-day role in caring for what had been uncovered and the people of Rēkohu/Wharekauri continued to do that mahi on behalf of the entire country, she said. Hammond said it was very clear this find was a major kaupapa to the local community, and they need to be supported to see it through. "No matter who we spoke to they said, 'Look, if this is so significant then it needs to be supported.' The fact of the matter is it needs to be resourced." The panel recommended that "emphasis now should be on the urgent recovery of the remainder of the waka and ensuring the island is supported for its long-term care." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
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Travel + Leisure
09-07-2025
- Travel + Leisure
Meet the Māori: The First People of New Zealand
In this week's podcast episode of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies, we explore the rich history of New Zealand's Māori people. Host Alisha Prakash, Travel + Leisure's associate editorial director, is joined by several members of the community who are helping carry their story and culture into the future. Most of the world is familiar with New Zealand for its awe-inspiring beauty: sweeping landscapes that appear to be an unimaginable green, oceans that sparkle as killer whales and dolphins breach the surface, and skies so blue you think you're dreaming. But there's something else that makes the island nation pure magic: its living cultural legacy. The Māori people, indigenous to Aotearoa, carry the country's history, which stretches back thousands of years, by way of storytelling and a deeply held reverence for the natural world. 'My whole upbringing pretty much revolved around those stories of my ancestors who sailed here to Aotearoa hundreds and hundreds of years ago and where they settled,' Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, a master navigator and expert in traditional waka (canoe) voyaging, shared with Travel + Leisure in the episode. 'There's a very strong traditional and historical connection between what my name is and the past and what we do now in terms of trying to reconnect with those traditions and keep [them] alive.' As Barclay-Kerr explained, the early Polynesian voyages to New Zealand weren't spontaneous adventures; they were meticulous missions driven by his ancestor's observations, planning, and expertise. 'You actually have to think it all out. And the preparation and the community involvement in helping you set up to go on a voyage like this takes a long time.' It's the same for Rawiri Edward Manawatu, a cultural guide and business leader in Kaikōura, a coastal community on the South Island, who can count eight generations of great-grandparents who have called this place home. And because of this strong lineage, Manawatu can accurately describe what life was like all those years ago. 'A typical morning would look like the men and women getting up early in the morning with the sun and going out fishing, hunting, and doing the gardening,' Manawatu said. 'The kids would be taught how to do these types of things … and we had what we call tohunga as well—they were experts in all of these different types of things and would teach others how to do it.' But like many Indigenous communities around the world, the Māori faced cultural disruption following colonization. In the 1800s, their land was seized, stolen, and sold. Even their spiritual practices and language were criminalized through the Tohunga Suppression Act. 'If you spoke Māori at school, you were hit by the teacher,' Barclay-Kerr shared. And, as Manawatu explained, 'We started to become second-class citizens at that time.' He added that many Māori are still working to reclaim their language and cultural identity today. 'When you haven't got your identity, and you don't know who you are, you don't know where you've been, you don't know where you're from—it disables you in the world today,' he said. But thankfully, their legacy, stories, and culture have not just endured, but are thriving thanks to a new generation heeding the call. 'We have now all these young people, like all my grandchildren—they can all speak our language, which is a huge change," Barclay-Kerr shared. "That long-term living legacy of our language, as an example, is one that becomes a gift to the whole country.' As a traveler, it's a culture you can learn more about and appreciate, too. Those seeking a deeper connection can take part in Manawatu's Māori Tours in Kaikōura to visit ancestral lands, battle sites, and remnants of traditional villages. 'I, myself, am a descendant of the ancestors that we're talking about,' he shared on the tour. Just make sure to approach the new customs you learn about with care. 'When the process or the protocol takes place of a traditional welcome, it's really important they stick to whatever their guides tell them,' Barclay-Kerr added. 'Ask permission. It makes a big difference.' Hear more about the enduring legacies of the Māori people, including the art of navigation and the strength of cultural revival, in the newest episode of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Player FM, or wherever you get your podcasts.
RNZ News
02-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
King's Birthday Honours: Joe Conrad - 'I just do what I do'
Veteran canoe paddler and Ngātokimatawhaorua captain, Joe Conrad. Photo: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira Joe Conrad (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Hauā) has been involved in waka kaupapa since the mid-1990s, and for years now has led as kaihautū (captain) of Ngā Toki Matawhaorua - the stunning ceremonial waka that many of us have seen in action at Waitangi. He helped keep waka knowledge alive, brought communities together through culture, and built international connections with other indigenous peoples. In addition to that, Conrad has helped support Treaty negotiations, and more recently taken on a new role supporting male survivors of sexual violence in Te Tai Tokerau. And on Monday, he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori, particularly kaupapa waka. He told RNZ he got the call while he was "out on 90 Mile Beach having a fish". "Because I wasn't answering my phone calls from the prime minister's office, they actually rang me directly and said, 'Don't hang the phone up anymore because we're trying to give you an honour.' … I sort of didn't know what to think actually, you know? I just do what I do." His journey began in the mid-1970s when his dad - then captain of the Ngā Toki Matawhaorua - "dragged" him along to Waitangi. "I don't think Mum and Dad trusted us at home by ourselves… it's all history now, and, much appreciated for the recognition that people thought that I'd done well." One of his biggest influencers was Sir Hector Busby, a navigator and traditional waka builder. "I spent probably most of my adult life getting growled at by him over those years and, you know, you have to have people of that calibre around you growing up. With my dad and Uncle Hector and Sir James Hēnare and all those old elders of that time… taught us some very, very knowledgeable lessons, and you sort of continue to evolve from their level. "And today being in command, I suppose, I need to leave something behind for the next generation that's coming up behind me, and hopefully the influence those old leaders have passed on to us is not to be taken away when I go away, to be left to encourage the younger generation to evolve again to another level." Conrad used his waka expertise to assist efforts to spread Māori culture around the world, particularly Europe. "We were part of Team New Zealand when we challenged Valencia at that time, and our Prime Minister Auntie Helen (Clark), she mentioned to Uncle Hector and I about, have we ever thought of building a waka and leaving it in Europe? Knowing that… Māori or New Zealand were starting to grow within our arts around the world." Around the same time, New Zealand's Te Papa Tongarewa was trying to repatriate tattooed heads from a museum in the Netherlands taken "by the flick of a pen or by the point of a gun". Joe Conrad, kaihautū (captain) of the great waka Ngātokimatawhaorua, briefs paddlers ahead of a training session for Waitangi Day 2025. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf Conrad said many European nations were keen to get a waka, but the Netherlands got it - on permanent loan - thanks to their swift response to New Zealand's request. "From there we grew that relationship… it just exploded after that , and now we have up to 200 to 300 young Dutch boys and Dutch girls part of the kaupapa up in Holland, a lot of them trying to speak Māori or know how to speak te reo." Conrad took a waka to the UK for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 - and it was an immediate hit with some. "Representatives from all over the world, other countries were seeing us doing this ceremony every morning, blessing our waka - so one morning we turned up and we couldn't even launch our waka, there were that many other boats and vessels parked in our moor and wanted their vessels blessed as well." But not everyone was happy to see them, Conrad explained, with an "uproar" in the British media over the uniquely New Zealand cultural display the crew had planned. "We were supposed to line up and raise your paddles in the air and give three hearty cheers to the queen, 'hip hip hooray', and so we come past on the log and started poking tongues and chanting our normal chants, and yeah, very well applauded by the queen at that time." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
02-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Iwi misses out in Hawke's Bay sheep and cattle station Kahurānaki bid
In a social media update on Thursday, Pōhatu Paku said it was with 'great sadness' that he was informing iwi that the trust's tender was not accepted - 'with no scope for further engagement, including negotiation'. He said the tender was based on 'significant due diligence', including an independent valuation by a registered valuer, but it was 'not the party whose tender was accepted,' he wrote. Bayden Barber, recently re-elected to a second term as chairman of wider Hawke's Bay-Wairarapa iwi Ngāti Kahungunu, echoed the disappointment. But he now looks forward to meeting the new owners and discussions around protection of the 'maunga' from such influence as forestry or housing and the access which has been enjoyed with the goodwill of past owners. 'Access would be a high priority,' he said. 'We wanted the mountain back, so we are really disappointed - gutted - that we didn't get it back.' Kahurānaki is the outstanding feature of the station and the wider landscape, with views from an elevation of 646 metres stretching in the east to the Pacific Ocean, Mahia Peninsula to the north east, and Ruapehu to the west, along with the outlook over the Heretaunga Plains. Attention was drawn to the opportunity of a buy-back on an iwi-support donations platform and in a maunga to maunga trek originating in Northern Hawke's Bay, including multiple sites of historical significance. The trek concluded with an ascent of the mountain that holds significant cultural and historical importance in the Heretaunga region, particularly for Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti hapū and Ngāti Kahungunu iwi, serving as a navigational landmark and a site for ancient burial places (wāhi tapu). It is also part of the story of the Tākitimu waka, the arrival of ancestors, and the pursuits of leaders over the centuries.
