The Tira Hoe Waka arrived at Putiki Marae on Tuesday. Photo / Steph Paranihi-Simon, Manawa Toa
The Tira Hoe Waka arrived at Putiki Marae on Tuesday. Photo / Steph Paranihi-Simon, Manawa Toa
More than 100 descendants of Te Awa Tupua have arrived at their final destination after taking part in the Tira Hoe Waka journey on the Whanganui River.
A rōpū [group] of 127 people started the journey on January 5, paddling downriver from Ngāpuwaiwaha Marae, Taumarunui and arriving at Pūtiki inWhanganui on Tuesday.
It marked the first time in 36 years the rōpū was able to activate a customary activities provision set out in the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017 to reserve sections of the river for the sole use of the wānanga.
This meant sections of the river were reserved solely for the Tira Hoe Waka on the dates it travelled those parts of the river. The notice was given to tour and jet boat operators, the Department of Conservation and local government.
Tira Hoe Waka executive committee chairman Hayden Potaka said it was really good to be able to have the awa to themselves.
A rōpū of 127 people began paddling downriver from Ngāpuwaiwaha Marae, Taumarunui on January 5. Photo / Steph Paranihi-Simon, Manawa Toa
“There were no jet boats going up and down annoying us and those sorts of things. We could really wānanga on the river. We don’t really get that opportunity to do that … and have some of our traditional kōrero, our customary actions, spoken to, but also spoken about and transmitted to our rangatahi.”
Potaka said this year, rangatahi were “particularly well-behaved”.
“They were engaging in the wānanga and you can see that they’ve got the awa glow, and those are the things we want to continue into the future for our Tira Hoe Waka,” Potaka said
“It shows me that they’re hungry to know and they’re hungry to learn about themselves … They’re here to learn, they’re here to soak it all up so that they can transmit it.”
Tāwhiao McMaster said it was great to see descendants of Te Awa Tupua come home to take part.
It marked the first time in 36 years the rōpū was able to activate a customary activities provision set out in the Te Awa Tupua. Photo / Steph Paranihi-Simon, Manawa Toa
“A lot of them don’t live and aren’t based near the river, so what’s been beautiful is that a lot of them are coming back home,” he said.
“We always say, ‘He muka au no te taura whiri a Hine Ngākau’ - so we’re a thread of rope of Hine Ngākau. What’s important is that the binding of that rope is nice and tight so the more you come home, no matter how far you are, coming to something important like this, you’re tightening it up more and more.”
McMaster agreed it was better to have areas of the awa to themselves this year.
“It was really undisturbed. We didn’t have any tourists, we didn’t have any operators, so the focus was really on us and the awa. And what was beautiful was that, for safety reasons too, we were able to know who was in the river when and where.”
Potaka said today the rōpu would host its poroporoaki at Putiki Marae. The committee will also regather later to analyse how the journey went, as well as how to make any improvements “and make the next one better.”
