Ko ngā tīpuna o te Māori ngā tino tohunga ki te tārai waka, ki te whakatere waka me te haere i te moana nui. Heke iho i ngā mano tau, i mua noa atu i te taenga mai ki Aotearoa, ka totoro ngā tīpuna o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa i te tonga mā rāwhiti o Āhia, ki Moana Tawhiti, ki Micronesia, ki Melanesia me Poronihia.
Tērā tonu pea i whakamahia te mōkihi i ngā whakawhitinga tōmua. Ko ngā moutere tata anake i haerea, arā, ngā moutere kitea noa ai e te kanohi. He maha ngā tāngata me ngā kawenga taumaha ka taea e te mōkihi, engari ia he waka pōturi. He tere te dugout engari he tokoiti noa iho ngā tāngata ka taea e ia. Heoi he kino ngā waka nei i ngā haere pāmamao – he rite te wā ka taka te tangata ki roto wai i runga i ngā mōkihi, ā, ka totohu ngā dugout.
Ka hipa te wā, ā, tāpirihia he ama kia kore ai te waka e pīoi. Nō te herenga o ngā rauawa, ka tau te wāhanga o te waka kei waenga i te takere me te ama. Ka tere te rere o te waka i te whakatūnga o te rā me te whakatika o te urungi.
Ko ngā baurua me ngā proa o Micronesia ngā tino waka ama. Whakaterehia ai ngā waka nei kia ahu te ama ki roto i te hau, kia kore ai te waka e tōia e tōna ama. He hangarite te āhua o te takere ā, he papatahi o waho kia kore ai te waka e tītaha; he hanga areare te āhua o roto, kia rere ai te wai i waenganui i te waka me te ama. Mā te haumi i ngā rauawa, ka tau te waka.
Nā te tau me te tere o ēnei waka, ka taea te whakatere waka i te moana nui mai i tētahi moutere ki tētahi moutere tawhiti atu. E ai ki a Kāpene Hēmi Kuki rāua ko Charles Wilkes he tere ake ēnei tūmomo waka i ō rātou kaipuke: ka kīia e 22 noti te tere o ētahi. I te haerenga a Louis Antoine de Bougainville ki Hāmoa, me Kāpene Hēmi Kuki ki Tonga, ka kōrero rāua mō te tere o ngā waka ama ka huri āwhio i ō rātou waka. 1
Ka whakawhanake ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa i te waka hourua kia pai ai te rere i ngā moana pukepuke o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Inā te nui o ētahi o ēnei tūmomo waka – e 36 mita te roa o tētahi waka ndrua nō Whītī (e 33 mita te roa o Endeavour). E ai ki ngā kaihōpara me ngā mihingare o Ūropi, neke atu ki te e 250 ngā tāngata ka taea i tētahi ndrua o Whītī.
He waka hourua te ndrua, ko tētahi takere he roa ake i tōna hoa. Ko ngā kawenga taumaha ka utaina ki te takere roa; ka rite te mahi a te takere poto ki tō te ama i te waka ama.
Me kī, ko te ndrua ki Whītī, ko te kalia ki Tonga, ko te ‘alia ki Hāmoa. He pai ngā waka nei hei kawe i te nui o te tangata i waenganui i ngā moutere pātata.
Mō ngā haerenga pāmamao, ka poto ake ngā waka hourua (e 20 mita). E 150 ki te e 250 kiromita ka taea e ngā tūmomo waka nei i te rā kotahi. Whakamahia ai e ngā iwi o Tonga te tongiaki, whakamahia hokihia ai e ngā iwi o Hāmoa te va’a-tele me tētahi ama kīia ai he amatasi. Kei Tahiti ko te pahi me te tipairua: tērā tētahi wā, e ono ngā waka pēnei i kitea e Kuki, e 23 mita te roa o ia waka. Ko te kupu a ngā iwi o Rarotonga, ko te waka hourua me te vaka-katea. Kīia ai e ngā iwi o Hawaii ēnei momo waka he wa’a-kaulua; e 20 mita te roa; heoi tērā tētahi waka o aua rā, e 33 mita te roa. E ai ki te kōrero, neke atu i te 100 ngā tāngata ka taea e ia te kawe.
E rua ngā momo takere waka: te hanga ‘V’ mō ngā waka tere, me te hanga ‘Ū’ mō ngā waka pai te urungi haere. Teitei te tau o ngā waka hourua ki roto i te wai, kia kaua te waka e tōia e te wai. Ko te tauira mō ngā waka hourua parahutihuti o Tā Peter Blake (Steinlager 1) rāua ko Grant Dalton (Club Med), ko ngā waka o Poronihia.
Arā ngā momo kōmaru whakamahia ai mō ngā waka. Me he ‘V’ te hanga o te waka, ka nui ake te hau ka pupuhi i te kōmaru. He poto iho ngā tira o ngā waka a ngā tūpuna i ērā ō ngā waka o ēnei rā.
Inā te roa o te urungi, neke atu i te e 6 mita te roa o ētahi. E rua ngā take roa ai te urungi: ko te whakahaere i te waka, kia kore ai hoki te waka e tītaha i te hau me te āmai o te wai. He rite te mahi a te urungi ki te mahi a te ‘keel’ i ngā waka o ēnei rā.
Kia 20 mita te roa o ngā waka haere pāmamao ka mutu, kia e 5 ki te e 15 ngā tāngata. Tērā pea ko ētahi o ngā utanga i runga i te waka, he panana, he taro, he kūmara, he heihei, he poaka, he ika, he pōporo, he uwhi, he hue. Kainga ai, inumia ai te kokonati. Puritia te wai Māori ki ngā tahā hue, hopukina rānei ki ngā kōmaru i te wā o te ua. Kei ngā kōrero tuku iho o te uru o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, ngā kōrero mō ngā kaumoana ka putu i te toto o ngā ika nunui ki roto i ngā angaanga kokonati. He inu reka pea tēnei.
Puritia ai ngā kōrero mō ngā ara moana. Ka tohu ngā kōrero ki ngā maunga, ngā mātārae, ngā toka, ngā rākau motuhake ka kitea kei te ara. Ka tātaria ngā ara o te whānau mārama. Hei ngā ahiahi te wā haere o ngā waka; ka noho nga tohunga ki te tātari ko hea te ara whetū hei whai i te tōnga o te rā.
Ehara i te mea whīwhiwhi ngā tikanga mō te whakahaere waka i Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Ka hua te tohungatanga ki te maha o ngā whakatipuranga. Ko te pūkenga nui o ngā kaiwhakatere o mua ko te tātai arorangi. Ka tātaria te whitinga me te tōnga o ngā whetū mārama rawa mā ētahi momo kāpehu. He momo kāpehu anō ā ngā kaumoana tōmua hei whakamahere i ngā hau moana.
Hei ngā pō, ka whakatere te tohunga i tōna waka kia hāngai ki tētahi whetū kei te pae o te rangi. Me ka teitei rawa taua whetū i te rangi, ka tātaria he whetū kē; ka pēnei te mahi ā, awatea noa. E whitu ki te 12 ngā whetū ka tātaria i te pō kotahi. Ka tirohia anōtia te marama me ngā aorangi pērā i a Meremere-tū-ahiahi rāua ko Pareārau. I te awatea, kua hāngai te ara o te waka ki te whitinga o te rā. Ka kake haere te rā, ka tātaria tana toremitanga ki te rua.
Ka pōuri rawa te rangi, ka tātaria te au o te moana. Nā te pupuhi o ngā hau o te raki me ngā hau tonga mā-rāwhiti, he roa ake te wā mō ngā āmai o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Ka hāngai e te tohunga tōna waka kia rite ki te rere o te āmai. Ki te rerekē te pōtere o te waka, he tohu tēnei kua kotiti te waka. Kia kore ai e kotiti te waka i te huarahi, ka tōia he taura ki muri i te waka – ki te panaia te waka e te ngaru nui, ka noho tonu te taura ki te huarahi tika. I mōhio ētahi tohunga ki te whakahāngai i te waka ki te wāhi e pupuhi ana te hau mā te here matairangi ki te tokotū me ngā taura o te waka.
Tērā pea nā ngā manu heke i ārahi te tangata ki ētahi whenua hōu. Kāore e kore he mōhio ētahi tāngata ki ngā huarahi haere o ngā manu. Hei tauira, i mōhiotia te huarahi o te kererū o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ki te uru. I whāia ēnei manu e ngā kaiwhakatere e haere ana i waenganui o Tonga me Hāmoa. Tērā pea i whakaaro ngā tīpuna o te Māori mō tētahi motu kei te tonga, i te mea ka rere te koekoeā me te pīpīwharauroa atu i ngā moutere o Melanesia me Te Moananui-Kiwa i te kōanga, ā, hei te ngahuru kua hoki anō.
He tohu whenua ngā manu ka rere ki te moana ki te hopu ika i te whitinga o te rā, ā, ka hoki ake ki ō rātou kōhanga i ngā ahiahi. Kotahi rau kiromita te tawhiti o te rere o te manu frigate ki te moana, e 70 kiromita te tawhiti o te haere o te tākapu me te ōi, e 50 kiromita te tawhiti o te haere a te tara.
Hei te tīmatanga o te hōtoke, ka heke ngā kauika tohorā atu i te Tiri o te Moana ki te Tonga ahu atu ki Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Ka whakahipa ētahi mā te tai hauāuru o Aotearoa, ahu atu ana ki Whenuatū me Kanaki. Ko ētahi ka hipa mā ngā tai e rua o Aotearoa ki Tonga me Hāmoa, ko ētahi ka hipa i te tai rāwhiti ki Rarotonga me Tahiti. Hei ngā marama o Nōema me Tīhema, ka hoki ngā tohorā ki te tonga.
Tērā pea i whakapono te Māori ki te whāia e rātou ngā kauika, ka arahina rātou ki tētahi whenua hōu, tā te mea ka whāngai te tohorā i ā rātou miha i ngā wai marino ki waho i ngā moutere me ngā whenua rarahi. He pōturi te tohorā, he māmā noa iho te whai i a rātou. He paku iho te kaha tere o te tohorā, arā te toru ki te rima noti, ki tērā o te waka hourua. E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a te Māori, nā ngā tohorā ngā waka i arataki mai ki Aotearoa, ā, e kī ana te kōrero i tae mai te tipuna a Paikea mā runga i tētahi tohorā.
Ko te wā ka heke ngā tohorā ki te tonga, koinā te wā ka puta ngā whetū me ngā aorangi ārahi o Aotearoa (Tamanui-te-rā e tō ana ki tōna rua, ko Meremere-tū-ahiahi, ko Te Waka-o-Tamarereti, ko Taki o Autahi).
Ka pātata ana he waka ki tētahi whenua, ka tiaho ngā whetū kōmata ki runga i tētahi moutere. I whakamahia ngā whetū nei e ngā tohunga o Tonga, o Tikopi, o Tahiti. Ko Ruawāhia te whetū kōmata o Hawaii, ko Takurua te whetū kōmata o Rangiātea ki Tahiti, me Vanua Levu, ki Whītī. Ka whakaterengia e ngā kaiwhakatere ō rātou waka kia whai i ēnei whetū. I mōhio rātou i tō rātou taunga ki raro iho i taua whetū kōmata, e 80 kiromita raro iho rānei tō rātou tawhiti atu i tētahi moutere.
Ka whai hua te whakamahi i ngā ringa me ngā matimati kia ine te teitei o ngā whetū kōmata (ngā whetū e rārangi ana i runga i te ahopou). He tikanga whai hua tēnei mō te kimi whenua. I ārahina pea ngā kaiwhakatere e ngā whetū kōmata, pērā i a Taki o Autahi. Hei tauira, mēnā kei Hawaii koe, e whā matimati te taha raro o Taki o Autahi i te pae o te rangi; ki te rere whakatetonga ki te weheruatanga o te ao, ka whānui ake te tawhiti nei ki te kotahi ringa, ā, e rua ringa te whānui ki te tata atu ki te ahopae o Tahiti.
He tohu te hanga, ngā nekeneke me ngā tae o ngā kapua. I te awatea, ka nunui haere ngā kapua convection kei runga i ngā moutere nui, arā ka teitei, ka mātotoru, ka pōuri ake te āhua, ka pōturi ake te rere o ēnei tūmomo kapua ki ērā kei te moana. Kitea ai ngā kapua ka iri i runga o Tahiti me Hawaii mai i te 150 kiromita. Kitea mai ai ngā kapua ririki hoka nei te āhua ka iri ki runga i ngā moutere ririki mai i te 50 kiromita. Me he māwhero te tae o ngā kapua, he toka tū moana tērā, ā, mēnā he kākāriki te tae o ngā kapua, he moutere tērā e kākahungia ana e te ngahere. Mēnā he pīataata rawa te āhua o te kapua, kei te tiaho te ata o te rā mai i tētahi hōpua ki runga i te kapua.
Ka titiro ngā tohunga ki ngā āmai ka tuki ki te whenua. Mā konei tohua ai kei hea te whenua i mua noa i te kitenga atu. E rua ngā momo āmai whenua. Tuatahi ka hua tētahi āmai i te tukinga o tētahi ngaru ki tētahi moutere, ka pana anō ki waho. Ka taea te rongo i ngā tūmomo ngaru nei mai i te 50 kiromita atu i ngā moutere ririki, e 300 kiromita te tawhiti atu i ngā whenua pēnei a Aotearoa. Ko tētahi atu āmai ka puta i te pōkaitanga o tētahi moutere i te āmai. Ahakoa kei tawhiti, ka rongohia tonuhia e ngā tohunga ngā momo āmai rerekē nei.
Ko te moana tonu tētahi o ngā kaiārahi mō te whakatere; te tae o te wai, te kitenga o ētahi tūmomo ika, ngā ia moana, te ‘rongo i te kakara o te whenua’ me te kitenga atu i ngā wai riporipo. Ki te kitea ngā aihe, ngā rau rākau, ngā para e pōteretere ana, he tohu ērā he whenua kei tata.
Nō muri mai i te noho a te Pākehā ki Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, ka ngaro haere ngā mātauranga me ngā tikanga o te whakatere waka. Ka whakarerea ngā waka, ka whakaterehia ngā kaipuke; i ētahi wāhi ka whakatauhia e te kāwanatanga ngā ture ārahi kia kaua te tangata e whakatere waka ki tētahi atu motu kei raro i te maru o whenua kē.
Ka hipa te wā ā, ka rere ngā whakapae e kī ana kāore noa iho he whakatere waka ki Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. E ai ki a Andrew Sharp i tana pukapuka a Ancient voyagers in the Pacific (1957), kīhai i taea e ngā tīpuna te haere ki kō atu i te 480 kiromita, kei totohu ō rātou waka. Hei whakamātau i ngā tūmomo ariā nei, ka tāraia he tauira o ngā waka o ngā tūpuna.
Nā te rōpū Polynesian Voyaging Society o Hawaii i tārai te waka a Hōkūle‘a. E 20 mita te roa o te waka hourua nei i tāraia mai i te kaka kōata me te papa tāpatu. I te tau 1976 ka haere ia mai i Hawaii ki Tahiti, ka hoki anō ki Hawaii anō. Ko Mau Piailug o Satawal te kaiurungi, kei ngā moutere Carolines i Micronesia tēnei moutere. I te tau 1980 ka hoki anō a Hōkūle‘a ki Tahiti. Nā ngā haerenga nei i tohu, ka taea te whakatere waka me te kore kāpehu.
Anei ngā tohutohu a Piailug mō te mahi kaumoana:
Kāore au e mataku i a au i te moana, i te mea ka whakapono ahau ki ngā kupu a ngā tīpuna. Kīia ai tēnei, ko te kaha. Mā te kaha koe hei kawe ki hea noa ake i te ao, e kore koe e ngaro. I akona ngā kupu nei ki ahau i runga i te waka o tōku matua, i a au e tamariki ana. 1
Nā Piailug i ako a Nainoa Thomspson o Hawaii ki ngā mahi whakatere. Nā Nainoa hoki i ako ngā kaumoana nō Tahiti, Marquesas, Rarotonga me Aotearoa. I te tau 1985, ka haere a Nainoa i tana haerenga atu i Hawaii ki ngā moutere o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa tae atu ki Aotearoa, hoki atu ki Hawaii. Ka kitea te pai o ngā waka tawhito i te whatinga o te kaipuke Pākehā e ārahi ana i a Hōkūle‘a. Ka ārahina te waka hōu nei ki Tahiti.
I ngā tau 1999 me 2000, ka rere a Hōkūle‘a atu i Hawaii ki Te Pito-o-te-Henua, ka hoki atu ki Hawaii. Koinei tētahi o ngā huarahi uaua rawa atu i takahia e ngā tīpuna o te Māori. Tokoono ngā kauhoe wāhine o te waka i tōna hokinga atu; ko tētahi, ko Pi’ikea Miller, te wahine tuatahi o te ao hōu kia momotuhia hei kaiwhakatere waka.
Ko Hōkūle‘a te tuatahi o te maha o ngā waka tauira. Whāia, ka tāraia e Hekenukumai Busby o Te Tai Tokerau a Te Aurere. I te tau 1992 ka rere te waka ki Rarotonga; ko Mau Piailug te urungi. Nā te tōmua o tōna whakaterenga, ka pākia a Te Aurere e te āwhā mō hia ngā rā. Ka waea mai Te Ratonga Tirorangi (New Zealand Meteorological Service) kia haere te waka mā tetahi huarahi, ka tohu a Piailug ki tōna ake huarahi i runga i ngā mātauranga i akona ki a ia. Hauware atu. Ka whāia ko ngā tohutohu a te Pākehā. Kātahi ka tino kino rawa atu te āwhā. Nāwai ā, ka tūpono rātou ki tētahi āwhā nui. Heoi nō konei ka whai rātou i ngā tohutohu a Mau, ka puta rā rātou ki te wāhi marino.
I te tau 1995 ka tere a Te Aurere mai i ngā moutere o Marquesas ki Hawaii i te taha o ētahi atu waka hōu, arā, a Tākitimu me Te Au-o-Tonga nō Rarotonga, a Hōkūle’a me Hawai’iloa nō Hawaii. I te hokinga, ka rere tika a Te Aurere mō ngā rā e 30 mai i Hawaii ki Rarotonga, ki Aotearoa.
Ko Te Au-o-tonga tētahi waka i whakawhiti i Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Nā ana haerenga ka mōhiotia ka taea te rere mai i te uru o Poronihia ki Aotearoa. Koinei pea te huarahi i haerea e ngā tīpuna o te Māori. Nā Thomas Davis i tārai a Te Au-o-tonga ki Rarotonga. Nāna i hautū te waka mai i Rarotonga ki Hāmoa. Heoi nō te kaha rawa o ngā ‘hau marangai’ o te rāwhiti, ka haere whakatetonga te waka ki Aotearoa kātahi ka rere ki Rarotonga i te raki.
He maha ngā waka kape kua whakaitia nā te mea ehara rātou i hangaia i ngā taputapu tūturu. Hei tauira, i tāraia a Hōkūle‘a mai i ngā papanga o te ao hōu, he mīhini ō Te Au-o-tonga rāua ko Te Aurere, ā, kei te maha o ngā waka ngā waerehi, aha atu. Hāunga anō a Hawaiki-nui; he waka tūturu tenei. Nā Mātahi Avauli Whakataka-Brightwell te waka i tārai i ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1980. Ko ngā takere i tāraia mai i te tōtara, ā, i herea ki te taura kopu i mahia mai i te weu kokonati. Ko ngā tokotū i mahia mai i te bamboo, ko ngā kōmaru i whatua mai i ngā rau pandanus. Kotahi anake te taputapu hōu, he waerehi. I te tau 1985 ka whakatere a Whakataka-Brightwell rāua ko Francis Cowan o Tahiti i a Hawaiki-nui mai i Tahiti ki Rarotonga tae atu ki Aotearoa. I tā rātou hekenga mai, ka tūpono te waka ki ētahi āwhā nui.
E mau ana i a Whakataka Brightwell te wairua o te whakaoranga o ngā mahi whakatere moana:
Ka noho au i te taha o Hawaikinui, me tētahi whakaahua o te tipuna o tōku matua ... kua whaona te waka ātaahua nei ki tōku hinengaro, tōku wairua – ngā tohu o ngā toki ki runga i te takere, ngā whakairo whakapapa, te rongo o te rākau me ngā taura. I rapu huarahi ahau i te ngarotanga o ngā whenua, te paheketanga o ngā tikanga me te reo, tae atu ki te kore mahi o taku iwi. 1
Evans, Jeff. The discovery of Aotearoa. Auckland: Reed, 1998.
Golson, Jack, ed. Polynesian navigation. Wellington: Polynesian Society, 1962.
Lewis, David. We, the navigators. Wellington: Reed, 1972.
Lindo, Cecilia Kapua, and Nancy Alpert Mower, eds. Polynesian seafaring heritage. Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools, 1980.
Lusby, Stan, Robert Hannah and Peter Knight. 'Navigation and discovery in the Polynesian oceanic empire.' Part 1, The Hydrographic Journal 131 & 132, pp. 17–25; Part 2, International Federation of Hydrographic Societies, autumn 2010, pp. 15–25.
Nelson, Anne. Maori canoes: nga waka Maori. Auckland: Macmillan, 1991.
Whakataka-Brightwell, Mātahi. Waka. Wellington: Learning Media, 1994.