Story: Waka – canoes - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
New Zealand’s abundance of wide-girthed trees such as tōtara meant that Māori could build much more diverse waka (canoes) than in their Polynesian homeland. They developed a variety of vessels for coastal and inland waterways.
Page 1. Waka – canoes - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Waka is the Māori word for canoe. The ancestors of Māori were among the greatest of canoe builders, navigators and mariners. Over the course of several thousand years, long before they came to New Zealand, Māori ancestors swept out of South-East Asia and Oceania into Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.
Waka landing places - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
This map shows the landing places of a number of waka (canoes) important to different iwi (tribes) throughout New Zealand. They are Kurahaupō, Tākitimu, Mataatua, Tainui, Te Arawa, Aotea, Tokomaru, Horouta, Uruaokapuarangi and Ārai-te-uru.
Page 2. Waka in New Zealand - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New …
In Aotearoa (New Zealand), waka became predominantly single-hulled vessels, classified by their size, shape, adornment and use. This in turn was determined by the type and quantity of native trees. The beam of a Pacific Island canoe was limited by the narrow girth of the local trees.
Waka ama – outrigger canoeing – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New …
Waka ama is the New Zealand term for the sport of outrigger canoeing. Traditional waka ama Waka ama have been used in the Pacific Islands for centuries, but were rare in New Zealand by the time Europeans arrived. 18th-century British explorers saw some double-hulled canoes, but few outrigger canoes.
Page 1. Pacific origins - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
The significance of waka (canoes) for Māori has its roots in times past, when voyaging waka forged the links between the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki and New Zealand, the cradle of Māori culture. Māui, a god-like ancestor, travelled by waka into the southern ocean and fished up the North Island, known as Te Ika-ā-Māui (the fish of Māui).
Waka landings, places of significance and tribes
This map shows waka (canoe) landing sites, tribal areas and places of significance for Māori in the East Coast region. Tradition holds that Nukutaimemeha, the waka that Māui used to haul up the North Island, rests petrified on Hikurangi mountain.
Waka – canoes - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
New Zealand’s abundance of wide-girthed trees such as tōtara meant that Māori could build much more diverse waka (canoes) than in their Polynesian homeland. They developed a variety of vessels for coastal and inland waterways.
Page 1. The meaning of canoe traditions - Te Ara: The …
The canoe (waka in Māori) traditions or stories describe the arrival in New Zealand of Māori ancestors from a place most often called Hawaiki. They also refer to the construction of canoes, conflicts before departure, voyaging at sea, landing, inland and coastal exploration, and the ...
Nene, Tāmati Wāka – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara
Early in the following year, still planning to avenge Taui, Nene travelled south on the schooner New Zealander. In the Bay of Plenty he helped recover the brig Haweis , captured off Motutohorā (Whale Island); faced with Ngāti Maru threats against the …