1990 — the year of the war canoes

Press, 31 August 1989, Page 11

1990 — the year of the war canoes

Next year will be the year of the wakataua — the war canoes. Not since last century has a fleet of these 20-metre craft been seen on the open seas, but in a few months this will change. Up to 20 of the craft are presently being prepared for the opening of the Commonwealth Games in January and the Waitangi celebrations in February. The majority of craft will be new, but some tribes are also restoring old canoes. “Koha” (on Sunday night at 9.45 on One) visits three areas where restoration or building of different craft is taking place.

At Ngaruawahia, the Tainui people are patiently restoring four traditional waka that are up to half a century old. They will be seen in Auckland at the opening of the Commonwealth Games and at least one will travel further north for the Waitangi Day celebration. At Pukepoto, in the Far North, the Te Rarawa, Aupouri and Ngati Kahu peoples are combining forces to build a traditional-style wakataua.

It Is a challenging project as no wakataua has been built in the north since the 1940 s and many of the skills have been

lost. At Mercer, on the Waikato River, the Te Tirohia Ki Manuka Trust is working on a totally new idea. It is constructing a huge fibreglass wakataua that it hopes will become the basis of a new industry for its people. The programme’s director, Brent Leslie, and reporter, Lawrence Wharerau, discovered great energy going into all the projects. “It’s giving them a sense of unity and purpose,” says Leslie, “and they’re making plans which will take them far beyond 1990. This could be the great revival of the wakataua.”