Waka (canoe)
Waka (Māori: [ˈwaka])[1] 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 (130 ft) long.
The earliest remains of a canoe in New Zealand were found near the Anaweka estuary in a remote part of the Tasman District and radiocarbon-dated to about 1400.[2] The canoe was constructed in New Zealand, but was a sophisticated canoe, compatible with the style of other Polynesian voyaging canoes at that time.[3][2]
Since the 1970s about eight large double-hulled canoes of about 20 metres have been constructed for oceanic voyaging to other parts of the Pacific. They are made of a blend of modern and traditional materials, incorporating features from ancient Melanesia, as well as Polynesia.
Technology changes[edit]
From the arrival of James Cook in 1769 and especially Marion Du Fresne's longer stay in New Zealand in 1772, Māori were able to obtain iron and steel, which did not exist in pre-contact Māori culture. Māori quickly learned the superiority of this material, especially for carving. Māori learnt to ask sailors to sharpen 8-inch-long (20 cm) ships' nails to a chisel point on a ship's wheel in exchange for fish. This period between 1779 and 1820 has been called the golden age of Māori wood carving.[14] Much of the carving was confined to waka taua.
During the middle 19th century, from 1835, the arrival of large numbers of European settlers and ships meant that ship's boats were far more commonly available and were increasingly used by Māori in preference to waka. In 1839 100 ships visited The Bay of Islands.[9] This was a trend that the missionaries such as Marsden and Williams had noted had begun in the 1830s. The beamier, lighter, ship's boat was a better load carrier with more stability and was sometimes equipped with sails for windward sailing. Use of ship's boats became common, as many Māori worked on a wide variety of sealing, whaling and trading sailing vessels, both in New Zealand and in the Pacific.
Few waka were used for movement of warriors during the Land Wars: When the Waikato campaign started in 1863, the government forces made a point of sinking all the waka they could find on the Waikato River and its tributaries to slow rebel communication. Later, some fine examples of these were placed in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Waka ama (outrigger canoes)[edit]
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)".[16][17] Already rare in Cook's time, waka ama had largely faded from memory by the early 19th century.[18] However, the term waka ama occurs in old stories, such as the story of Māui published by Grey in 1854 and in a few old waiata; Tregear also mentions the waka ama as "a possession of the Māori", 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 the outrigger have entirely disappeared from among the Māoris, and it is doubtful if any native now alive has seen either of them in New Zealand".[19]
Two outrigger floats were found in swamps along the Horowhenua coast of Cook Strait, and another float was found in Moncks Cave near Christchurch. All three floats were short, suggesting that Māori outriggers were small and used only in sheltered waters.[20]
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.[21]
Since the 1990s, waka ama racing, introduced from Pasifika nations into New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s, using high-tech canoes of Hawaiian or Tahitian design and with the ingenious support of work schemes, has become an increasingly popular sport among Māori, often performed as part of cultural festivals held in summer.[22]
Related meanings[edit]
The word "waka" is also used in broader senses that can be translated as "vessel", "container", 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 (Heteralocha acutirostris) that are worn as ornaments in the hair.[26]
In current Māori language usage, waka is used to refer to cars, (along with the transliterated term motokā), waka-rere-rangi for aircraft and a waka hari hinu is an oil tanker – a waka niho (gear container) is a car's gearbox. Waka can be used to refer transport in general, such as in "Te Manatū Waka" (Ministry of Transport) and "Waka Kotahi" (NZ Transport Agency).
Waka may also refer to a kinship group descended from the crew of a canoe which migrated to New Zealand and occupying a set territory.[27] A waka in this sense may comprise several iwi (tribes).