Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival

[Tronhard]

First A Bit of Context:

This weekend the Auckland Province is 177 years old. Not old by European standards but NZ is one of the last countries to be settled by Europeans.

Auckland is known as the City of Sails, with on person in four owning a boat of some kind (I've sunk three of them myself in years of sailing as a teenager ), and this weekend sailors in all sorts of craft come out to strut their stuff on the two major harbours: the Auckland Harbour and Hauraki Gulf, and the Manukau Harbour,straddling the isthmus of Auckland at Mt Wellington where they are separated by only a few hundred metres.



For the pre-European settlers, whose occupation of the area dates back to about 1,000 CE, the area is known as Tāmaki Makaurau – meaning 'Tāmaki desired by many lovers', because of the fertile soil resulting from the output of it's 50 volcanoes, and the rich Kai Moana (sea foods), supporting a dense population of Maori here for about 800 years before the advent of Pakeha (Europeans).

Today, Auckland is the world's largest Polynesian city and one of the great cities of the Pacific. Aucklanders come from all corners of the world – around 56% of its residents are of European descent, 11% are Maori, 13% are of Pacific Island descent and there is a growing Asian population of around 12%.

Apart from conventional sailing the Maori community is hosting a traditional cultural event: the Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival, showcasing many aspects of their society, but especially the use of their traditional canoes - known as Waka. These canoes range in size from one person dug-outs, through 30m single-hulled coastal and war canoes, to dual-hulled long distance vessels. I have written a bit about the latter, but the photos I captured were all of them beached.



Yesterday I got the chance to see three of them crewed and on the water in a sail-by to mark the start of the festival.



This is an example of where simple images do not tell the whole story - the chants by the crews as they mark time to paddle in synchronization produce a strong resonance that you feel in your chest and is truly awe inspiring, and somewhat intimidating: I can only imagine the impression it must have had on the early explorers and settlers! They not only chant but bring their paddles from the water to a horizontal position and bang them on the thwarts of the canoes in slow time - it would take about 8-10 seconds for a cycle. In the photo above the paddles are raised vertically as a salute to the Waka of the host Iwi.

Apart from the paddlers, at the back is a stout steersman, using a large paddle to manoeuvre the boat. In the middle stands the chant leader, maintaining the rhythm and leading the chants and Hakas. At the front is the Waka captain, directing the ship with his own paddle.



The first to leave was the Waka from the Iwi (tribe) local to the area:


Next came a Waka crewed mainly by Wahine (women), who are by no means the "weaker sex" - they were capable of being fierce warriors too!


Their Wakas are adorned with various artifacts to complement the intricate carvings on the prows, sterns and sides that are an expression of their identitiy and Māna: a cross between pride, respect and status.

Last came a smaller Waka




The smaller Waka above is probably a fishing vessel, hence it's adornment with symbols of the sea. In this case the sternpost shows a whale ridden by a woman, in the manner of the myth of the Whale Rider, depicted in the highly regarded film of the same name. Beneath it lies either a whale calf, or the depiction of a spirit or Taniwha (pronounced 'Tanifa'). Notice also the coloured inlays.



The bowsprit is adorned with a dolphin. Most Waka have some kind of such emblem, although the type varies with the purpose of the vessel: for example a war canoe would be led by a fierce warrior spirit such as on the larger canoes shown - in this case, because the intent is peaceful, the symbolism is modified by the softness of feathers.


Gory details: Canon 60D with Canon 28-300L lens, hand held

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[LePetomane]

Very nice. Did they do the Haka dance?

[madcrow]

Images and narrative exceptional. I really enjoyed looking at your images, thanks for sharing.

[Tronhard]

Thanks Maurice, your comments are always very welcome and appreciated!

Images and narrative exceptional. I really enjoyed looking at your images, thanks for sharing.

[Tronhard]

Hi Paul:

Very nice. Did they do the Haka dance?

There was a Powhiri (a ceremonial greeting) on the shore that may have had a Haka but that was some way off. I was interested to discover that the crew of the host Waka used the Haka " Ka Mate Ka Mate" as one of their paddling chats - this has been made famous by New Zealand's World Champion rugby union team, the All Blacks, who have traditionally used it as a challenge to their opponents before their matches.

For a really interesting description of the Ka Mate Haka, including explaining the words and a video of its performance by the All Blacks, see this link:
http://haka.co.nz/haka/

[Mike Buckley]

Very informative series! The color, composition and light all came together very nicely in the third photo.

[Tronhard]

Thanks Mike!

Very informative series! The color, composition and light all came together very nicely in the third photo.

[bnnrcn]

Very interesting series, thanks for sharing Trev

[Tronhard]

Thanks Binnur - always a pleasure!

cheers: Trev

Very interesting series, thanks for sharing Trev

[george013]

Hi Paul:


There was a Powhiri (a ceremonial greeting) on the shore that may have had a Haka but that was some way off. I was interested to discover that the crew of the host Waka used the Haka " Ka Mate Ka Mate" as one of their paddling chats - this has been made famous by New Zealand's World Champion rugby union team, the All Blacks, who have traditionally used it as a challenge to their opponents before their matches.

For a really interesting description of the Ka Mate Haka, including explaining the words and a video of its performance by the All Blacks, see this link:
http://haka.co.nz/haka/

Wonderful series. About the All Blacks, I suppose that are performances they give playing home only?

George

[Tronhard]

Hi George:

Thanks for asking.
Actually the All Blacks have done the Hake at every game since about 1888- both overseas and at home games.

[bje07]

Very nice series colorful.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set of images supporting a good narrative, Trev. Photographically the third waka shot is really nice. Though a truly dedicated photographer would have gotten out on the water somehow