Ko te waka ama kāore i rite ki ētahi anō waka, inā rā he ama tōna hei pupuri tika i a ia ki te wai.
Hei aha te ama?
Kotahi anake te takere o ngā waka Māori, pērā i te waka taua, i te waka tīwai me te waka tētē. Nā te whānui o ngā rākau, ka whānui anō ngā waka, ā, he roa ake i te hōhonu o te waka (mai i te takere ki ngā rauawa). Nā whai anō ka maunu pai ērā waka. Kāpā ko ngā waka ama, he whāiti iho, nā reira ka whai ama kia kore ai e taupoki. Ko tōna ingoa roa he amatiatia. He mea ruruku ngā ama ki te kīato, ā, ka ruruku te kīato ki te waka. I te nuinga o te wā, kei te taha mauī te ama e noho ana.
Ngā waka ama tōmua
Kua roa ngā rautau e whakamahia ana te waka ama ki Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Engari tae rawa mai te Pākehā, kua hāhā haere te waka ama ki Aotearoa. Ka kitea te waka hourua (mō te hī ika) engari kāore i nui te kite i ngā waka ama.
Ka rokohanga a Te Māhia e Hēmi Kuki i tōna haerenga tuatahi mai i te tau 1769, ka kōkiritia tōna kaipuke e ngā waka. E ai ki a Sydney Parkinson, ‘ He maha tonu ngā waka e mau ama ana; ko tētahi e mau whakairo ana, he mea whakamīharo1 I te haerenga tuarua mai o Kuki i te tau 1773 ka kitea ētahi atu waka ki Tōtaranui. E ai ki a George Forster ‘he ama, he poro rākau rānei e herea ana ki ētahi pae kia kore ai te waka e tahuri noa’.2 Ko rāua tahi ka kī kāore i kitea nuitia te waka ama i aua wā. I muri mai kāore i kōrerotia e te hunga mihingare, e wai ake rānei.
Ngā waka ama o tua whakarere
Kotahi noa iho te taunaki kikokiko o te waka ama kua huraina ki Aotearoa. Arā, i keria mai i ngā repo o te mānia o Taieri ki Ōtākou i te tau 1895. Kāore ōna ritenga i te ao Māori, tērā te rerekē rawa o te hanga i te takere. Me te mea nei he mea tārai ki te toki kōhatu. Kotahi anake te tauira ama kua hahua ake; arā, i te pito o te rautau 1800. I tūhuratia te ama i te Ana o Monck e tūtata ana ki Sumner.
I ngaro pea te waka ama nā te nunui ake o ngā rākau i Aotearoa i ērā i Hawaiki-areare. Nā whai anō i taea e rātou te hanga ngā takere whānui, kia mānu ai te waka.