Waka taua (war canoes) at the Bay of Islands, 1827-8

In the Māori language and New Zealand English, waka (IPA:wɔka) are Māori watercraft, usually canoes, ranging in size from small unornamented canoes (waka tīwai) used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes (waka taua) up to 40 metres long. New Zealand English ( NZE, en-NZ) is the form of the English language used in New Zealand. This article discusses the Māori people of New Zealand For their language see Māori language, and for other meanings see Māori (disambiguation. A canoe is a small narrow Boat, typically human-powered though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors In recent years, large double-hulled canoes of considerable size have been constructed for oceanic voyaging to other parts of the Pacific. ^[1]

Waka taua (war canoes)

Waka taua (war canoes) were large canoes manned by up to 80 paddlers and were up to 40 metres in length. Waka taua . Many are single-hulled vessels made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. Large waka, which are usually elaborately carved and decorated, may consist of several jointed pieces lashed together. The resurgence of Māori culture has seen an increase in the numbers of waka taua built, generally on behalf of a tribal group, for use on ceremonial occasions.

Ocean-going canoes

See also Māori migration canoes

A waka taua displayed at the Otago Museum, Dunedin

Ocean-going waka, whatever their size, could be paddled but achieved best speeds when propelled by sail. Various Māori traditions recount how their ancestors set out from a mythical homeland in great ocean-going canoes (or waka) The Otago Museum is situated in Dunedin, New Zealand It is Otago's largest cultural and heritage institution with a collection of over two million artefacts and specimens Dunedin (dəˈneɪdɪn) Ōtepoti in Maori is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of The Polynesian settlers of New Zealand migrated to New Zealand in large waka; some of these were waka hourua, double-hulled vessels. Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a Subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The names and stories associated with those waka were passed on in oral history (kōrero o mua) as the descendants of the settlers multiplied and separated into iwi (tribes) and hapu (sub-tribes). In New Zealand society iwi (iwi form the largest everyday Social units in Māori populations. A hapū is a division of a Māori Iwi ( Tribe)&mdashoften translated as 'subtribe' Consequently the word waka is used to denote confederation of iwi descended from the people of one migratory canoe. The waka had many uses as of which there is fishing. The waka was used in everyday life for the maori, to search for food.

Waka ama (outrigger canoes)

It is a little known fact that early European explorers saw Māori using waka ama (outrigger canoes). "Sydney Parkinson, an artist on Captain James Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand in 1769, and the German scientist Johann Reinhold Forster, who sailed with Cook in 1773, described waka fitted with outriggers (ama, amatiatia or korewa)". ^[2] Already rare in Cook's time, waka ama had largely faded from memory by the early 19th Century (Howe 2006:87). However the term 'waka ama' occurs in old stories, such as the story of Māui published by in Grey in 1854 and in a few old waiata; Tregear also mentions the waka ama as 'a possession of the Maori', adding that 'It was beneath the outrigger of such a canoe that the famous Maui crushed his wife's brother Irawaru before turning him into a dog. Both the double canoe and that with the outrigger have entirely disappeared from among the Maoris, and it is doubtful if any native now alive has seen either of them in New Zealand' (Tregear 1904:115). The Māori words for the parts of the outrigger, such as 'ama' and 'kiato', recorded in the early years of European settlement, suggest that Māori outrigger canoes were similar in form to those known from central Polynesia. ^[3]

In recent years, waka ama racing, introduced from Pasifika nations into NZ during the 1980s & 1990s, using high-tech canoes of Hawaiian or Tahitian design, and supported with the ingenious support of work schemes, has become an increasingly popular sport in New Zealand, often performed as part of larger festivals. Outrigger canoeing is a Sport in which an Outrigger canoe ( vaʻa, waʻa, and waka ama in Tahitian, Hawaiian,

Other materials used

Some waka, particularly in the Chatham Islands, were not conventional canoes but were constructed from raupo (bulrushes) or flax stalks. The Archipelago of the Chatham Islands ( Rekohu in the Moriori language and Wharekauri in the Māori language) is a territory Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) (binomial name Linum usitatissimum) is a member of the genus Linum

Related meanings

The word 'waka' is also used in broader senses that can be translated as 'container', 'vessel' or 'vehicle'. A 'waka huia' is a hollowed and carved vessel used for storing of taonga (treasures) such as the prized tail feathers of the now-extinct huia bird that are worn as ornaments in the hair. A taonga in Māori culture is a treasured thing whether tangible or intangible The Huia, ( Heteralocha acutirostris, was a Species of New Zealand Wattlebird endemic to the North Island of New Zealand In current Māori usage, waka is used to refer to cars, along with the transliterated term 'motokā' (motorcar). The neologism 'waka-rere-rangi' (literally: waka (vehicle) that sails the sky) was coined for aircraft. A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been A 'waka hari hino', (vessel that carries oil) is an oil tanker; a 'waka niho' (gear container) is a car's gearbox.

See also

• Dugout
• Outrigger Canoe
• Waka-jumping
• Hōkūleʻa
• Polynesian Voyaging Society

Notes

1. ^ The plural is also waka. A dugout is a Boat which is basically a hollowed tree trunk Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. The outrigger canoe ( Tagalog and Indonesian: bangka; Maori: waka ama; Hawaiian: waʻa; Tahitian: New Zealanders speak colloquially of waka-jumping (or more conventionally party-hopping) when elected politicians switch political parties between elections Hōkūlea is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a "waa kaulua" a double-hulled Polynesian voyaging Canoe. The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS is a non-profit research and educational corporation based in Honolulu, Hawai{{okina}}i. Similar craft are encountered elsewhere in Polynesia, with cognate names such as vaka, wa'a, or va'a
2. ^ Barclay-Kerr, 2007
3. ^ The story of Māui as written by Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikaheke refers to ama in sentences such as 'hei roto koe, hei te ama o to taua waka' (published by Grey in Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna, 1971:20, translated by Grey as "You get under the outrigger of the canoe . Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from . . " Grey, Polynesian Mythology, 1974:40).

References

• Barclay-Kerr, Hoturoa (2007). Waka – canoes. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 13 April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-20. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France.
• G. Grey, (1971). Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna, fourth edition. First published 1854. Reed.
• K. R. Howe (Ed. ), (2006). Vaka Moana - Voyages of the Ancestors. David Bateman.
• Edward Robert Tregear (1904). The Māori Race. Archibald Dudingston Willis:Wanganui. Retrieved on 2007-09-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.