Kōrero: Waka ama

Whārangi 1. Ngā waka ama o mua

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

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.

Kupu tāpiri
  1. Sydney Parkinson, A journal of a voyage to the South Seas. London: Caliban Books, 1984, p. 91 (originally published 1773). Back
  2. Georg Forster, A voyage around the world. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1986, p. 136 (originally published 1777). Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, 'Waka ama - Ngā waka ama o mua', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/waka-ama/page-1 (accessed 19 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, i tāngia i te 5 Sep 2013