Tihei: Passion for waka kaupapa drives analyst

Shade Smith recently acquired his skipper's ticket and will now be able to take groups out for a waka experience.

Senior analyst for Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated’s Environment and Natural Resources Unit, Shade Smith, recently acquired his ‘skipper’s ticket’ and will now be able to take groups out for a waka experience.

Recently Shade passed the final exam set by Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) for the Skipper Restricted Limits (SRL) qualification, the entry-level qualification for commercial skippers.

The exam was the culmination of a nearly three-year-long process of gaining sufficient sea time (200 hours) and completing a comprehensive training record book that covered practical aspects of a master’s duties including both nautical and engineering components, and completion of a four-week block course at the NZ Maritime School in Auckland.

The skipper’s ticket will allow Shade to be the master of a vessel operating for commercial purposes in a restricted setting, ie. within 12 nautical miles offshore and on a vessel no more than 12m in length.

After a further six months of training at sea, Shade will be able to apply for an endorsement to skipper vessels up to 24m in length and carry up to 19 passengers.

Shade Smith has a strong affinity with the ocean.

“The reason I did this was to support the waka hourua Te Matau a Māui and the kaupapa of the waka,” Shade said.

“The wawata of Ngāti Kahungunu in relation to Te Matau a Māui is the revitalisation of traditional wayfinding (navigation) and sailing techniques, linking Kahungunu to Aotearoa to Te Moana nui a Kiwa, and ultimately to the world, and to be a kaitiaki and voice for the plight of our oceans.

“I have been involved in waka kaupapa for 32 years as both a kaihoe on waka taua and as a kaumoana on waka whakatere.

“I was very fortunate to be supported throughout by Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, my employer and owner of te waka Te Matau a Māui, and the Ātea Rangi Educational Trust, in particular Piripi Smith, who operates the waka for the iwi.”

Shade has Te Aupouri and Te Rarawa whakapapa/genealogy and grew up in Northland around the Bay of Islands where his strong affinity with the ocean and the outdoors began.

He holds a Masters of Science Degree in Marine, Environmental and Aquaculture Science and is also a director and principal scientist of his own private environmental and marine consulting company Triplefin.

Shade has worked for the iwi for almost five years. In his role he provides high-quality advice to ultimately support and protect our environment and natural resource interests.

Shade’s passion is the empowerment of indigenous peoples to become more involved and productive in providing resource management solutions. Shade, his wife Anna and their three children live in Ahuriri.

He has been part of the Te Mātau a Māui waka experience for some time now and is part of the voluntary team of supporters who maintain the waka.

“Part of this involves taking groups out for a waka experience, to wet the tastebuds and introduce them to waka kaupapa, with funds collected going toward the myriad of costs to run and maintain the waka,” he said.

“The first rule of waka is that the waka comes first and so in a sense for any new kaumoana, the waka chooses you.”

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