Carving out their heritage

Eighteen months of work by Kaikohe schoolchildren has transformed a kauri log into a carved ceremonial waka.

The waka was delivered to Kaikohe Intermediate School last Friday, wheeled through the school grounds to the chant of a kaumatua, and carried into its own whare waka to be blessed and named Te Aratika ("The Righteous Path").

Just under 5m long, the waka started out as a kauri seedling planted on the school grounds. Its roots were threatening to damage a path and the school pool, so it was felled and given to Kaikohe carver Keith Wihongi - who then returned it transformed.

For six terms, groups of up to eight children at a time spent a day a week working on the waka at Wihongi's Rankin St workshop.

Wihongi said he and fellow carver Matt Beazley had only guided the children.

"The kids de-barked it, they hulled it, they drew up and did all the carvings on the side. The only bit they didn't do was cut it down."

Helping to build a waka from start to finish had helped the children learn their own identity as Maori, he said.

Principal Phil Gordon said the project aimed to bring the school and whanau together in a common kaupapa, and to ensure traditional skills and knowledge were handed down to the children.

The blessing of the waka coincided with a farewell for Mr Gordon, who is about to take the reins at Kelston Intermediate in Auckland after more than seven years at Kaikohe Intermediate.

Desirei Davis, formerly of Moerewa School, will be interim principal while a permanent replacement is sought.

The school's 173 pupils gave Mr Gordon a rousing send-off in the school hall on Friday, and handed him gifts of a korowai (feather cloak) and a waka huia (carved chest).

Mr Gordon said he was proud of the "phenomenal improvement" in the school's physical and emotional environment in his time as principal.

Seven years ago, the school was run by a commissioner but it now had a very effective board.

There was still room for improvement, but that was true of any school.