Pā mai tō reo - The voyage of Te Waka Takitimu

Ngahiwi Tomoana

Since the recent election when Bayden Barber was successful as the chairman of Ngāti Kahungunu, I've had several offers of support, one of them was with Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu to become an ambassador for them throughout the motu and throughout the Pacific.

I take this tono seriously because it's been a passion of mine and I know it's been a passion of Tama Huata and his dad, Wī Te Tau Huata, and other elders of Kahungunu, including Te Ao Pēhi Kara, Charlie Mohi, John Scott, Cambridge Pani, Paora Whaanga and many others.

This is the journey I know of the waka Takitimu from its origins in Samoa to its petrification in Murihiku. So here is a background to this next chapter.

Orokeu and Oroinano were the younger brothers of Ātonga who we know as Whātonga, who was an Ali'i in Samoa. The two younger brothers wanted to build a waka so they could sail to other islands, discover new lands, and create their own rangatiratanga.

To do this they had to steal a tree from the neighbouring hapū or in Samoan, manu, and build their waka during the night. So the first name of our waka was Tarai Pō, meaning, built in the night.

The two brothers were killed for their misdeeds and Atonga carried the waka to the shore in order to complete it.

When he was asked how the waka got to the shore, he said, 'ka rere te manu' which means the hapū carried it from the bush to which his people thought the birds had flown it. But manu in Samoa is the same as hapū or iwi, such as Manu Samoa.

Whātonga's son Arutanganuku, which means seeker of lands, requested the waka from his father once it was finished and his father's response was, "What do I get in return?" which Arutanganuku replied, "My wife Te Pori will serve you dinner for the night", which she did. And so he and his wife were in possession of the waka which was renamed Te Kare o Pori, meaning the bow of the canoe cutting through waves.

They visited Tonga and on their return to Samoa, gifted the waka to their son Arutangarangi, which means exploring the stars. Te Arutangarangi visited Fiji or Fiti or Iti, and stayed there, and during a storm turned the waka upside down as a sheltering house for his people and the waka was given a new name, Te Orauroa o Iti – the long sheltering house of Fiji.

From Fiji, the waka returned to Samoa and was gifted to Te Arutangarangi's son Ka'ukura, who sailed the waka to Tahiti and beyond, discovering many more islands. He decided to remain in Tahiti and the waka was becoming famous for its movement of people and products around the Pacific and it became known as Numia'au, meaning famous and renowned.

Ka'ukura gave the waka to his son, Āmaru, who travelled from Tahiti all around the Cook Islands and beyond, who then gave it to his daughter, Rākainui. Rākainui, after a period, gave it to her nephew, Ngātangia, who mainly settled around Rarotonga. The waka was then renamed Te Tiki o Te Tuahine, meaning the gift of the sister.

Ngātangia was challenged for the ownership of the waka by his cousin Tūtapu and war broke out amongst the Pacific Islands as these two fought their battles from island to island, finally culminating in Ngātangia being victorious in Rarotonga. After that time the waka was renamed Takitumu, which in their dialect means lifting the heavy burden of war.

Ngātangia gifted the waka to his mokopuna Tamatea Arikinui who sailed out on the outgoing tide and the waka was renamed Takitimu.

All this above was generously reported to me by Sir Tom Davis in my many visits to the Cook Islands. As we know from there, Tamatea Arikinui sailed the waka to Aotearoa, to Awanui, to Kaipara, to Waitematā, to Whangaparāoa, to Whāngārā, to Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, onto Wairoa, Waimārama, and Wairarapa, before Tahu Pōtiki finally skippered it to the bottom of Te Waipounamu to be scuttled in the Waiau river where it was turned into stone and still exists today, and became Te Waka Tapu o Takitimu.

This is the kōrero that has been collected throughout my journeys throughout the Pacific, which I hope to explore and enhance over the next few months and years, building on the wānanga of the Pacific tahuna or tohunga and our own tribal history experts.

Tihei Takitimu!