Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis said it was with a heavy heart that he acknowledged the passing of Sir Hekenukumai, an esteemed kaumatua of Te Tai Tokerau, a master carver and waka-builder, a navigator with a curious mind, a story for every occasion, a man whose legacy would not be forgotten.
Sir Hekenukumai (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu) was also a noted exponent of kapa haka, carving and mau rākau, and was a life member of Te Matatini, the national kapa haka competition, but he was knighted in recognition of his role in reviving Māori traditions of building and sailing waka hourua (double-hulled voyaging canoes) and celestial navigation, in which stars, currents and wildlife are used to navigate across vast expanses of ocean.
He left school at the age of 15 and established a successful bridge-building business, but it was an encounter with the Hawaiian waka hourua Hokole'a in 1985 that changed his life. He subsequently built 52 waka, and founded a school of traditional navigation at Aurere, Doubtless Bay, to pass on his knowledge to future generations.
Speaking at his investiture, Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi said Sir Hekenukumai's quest to build ocean-going waka and sail them around the Pacific without European navigation aids had been a breakthrough for all New Zealanders.
"It affirmed our oral history that we are in fact navigators extraordinaire who traversed the greatest expanse of water on the planet for millennia ... His feats dispelled the long-held myth that we Māori are here by accident and not by design," he said.
On Sunday he said Te Tai Tokerau had other leaders in business and politics, but in terms of cultural development, no one equalled Sir Hek.
"He was a cultural icon in every sense," Mr Piripi added.
Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii and captain of the Hōkūle'a in 1985, said Hawaiians felt the loss of Sir Hek deeply as he embarked on his last great voyage, but his "exceptional and extraordinary life" had enriched the lives of many.
He is also mourned in the Netherlands, where his waka Te Hono ki Aotearoa has been based in the city of Leiden since 2010.
Waka group spokeswoman Nola der Weduwe said without Sir Hek's approval Māori culture could not have taken root in the Netherlands. His legacy would live on as his waka continued to be paddled in Europe.
He has now returned to Te Uri o Hina Marae at Pukepoto, where he was born, with karakia whakamutunga (final prayers) at 10am tomorrow.
