Kaihoe (paddlers) perform a mass haka on Tii Beach. Photo/ Michael Cunningham
Kaihoe (paddlers) perform a mass haka on Tii Beach. Photo/ Michael Cunningham
Covid fears and closed borders couldn't stop Northland waka paddlers putting on one of the highlights of Waitangi Day commemorations in the Bay of Islands.
A near-record 13 waka and more than 300 kaihoe (paddlers) took part in Saturday morning's waka display, the culmination of a five-day training camp at ''Tent City'' at Bledisloe Domain in Haruru.
Morning sun shines through the tauihu (prow carving) of the great waka Ngatokimatawhaorua. Photo / Michael Cunningham
After launching from the Treaty Grounds and Waitangi boat ramp the waka converged on Tii Beach, where the paddlers disembarked for karakia and a series of awe-inspiring mass haka watched by as many as 1000 people crowded along the shore.
The paddlers also paid tribute to leaders who had died in recent times, including master waka builder and navigator Sir Hekenukumai Busby and kaumātua Wiremu Wiremu, who had been central to waka events at Waitangi for decades.
Kaihoe (paddlers) perform a mass haka on Tii Beach. Photo/ Michael Cunningham
Stan Conrad, kaihautu of the waka hourua (voyaging canoe) Te Aurere, said after the mass haka the 13 crews paddled to Motu Maire, an island where young men once went through initiation ceremonies.
"It's a little pilgrimage we do every year. It's a very special place to us. It's a chance to talk to the kaihoe about kaupapa waka, about life, and about being who you are."
The waka then did a "drive-by" of Paihia before returning to Waitangi.
The kaihautu (captain) blows a pūkāea as the waka tangata Kahakura powers across the Waitangi Estuary. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The annual waka display is arguably Northland's greatest spectacle but Conrad said it was more than that — it was a celebration of the importance of waka to Māori identity.
"They are part of our whakapapa, they connect us back to the past, to Hawaiki. They are the past, the present and the future. They help our rangatahi (young people) stand proud of who they are. Waka represent all of us, we are all people of the ocean."
Kaihoe (paddlers) cast shadows on Tii Beach as they perform a mass haka. Photo/ Michael Cunningham
Waka taking part this year included the twin-hulled waka tangata Mahurangi, which hit the water for the first time after a launch ceremony at the boat ramp; and Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, the second waka hourua built by Sir Hekenukumai.
The great waka Ngātokimatawhaorua didn't take to the water this year because of the sheer number of men needed to paddle it. The waka takes a crew of 80.
Waka land at Tii Beach ahead of the mass haka. Photo / Peter de Graaf
For the first time in a decade Dutch paddlers from the city of Leiden, which has an ongoing cultural exchange with Aotearoa, were unable to attend Waitangi Day festivities due to border closures.
They were, however, represented by Dutch ambassador Mira Woldberg.
Native American paddlers were likewise unable to attend this year.
Te Aurere kaihautu (captain) Stan Conrad, Toi Maori Aotearoa operations manager Tamahou Temara, Dutch ambassador Mira Woldberg and Ngātokimatawhaorua kaihautu Joe Conrad. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Other kinds of waka taking part this year included the Royal New Zealand Navy multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury, firing a 21-gun salute which echoed across the Bay at the stroke of noon.
