Sunday, 2 May 2021, 4:53 pm Press Release: Ministry For Culture And Heritage
Te
Hau Kōmaru chair Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr has announced the
first National WakaHourua Festival to be held in Tauranga,
19-23 May 2021.
The first National
Waka Hourua Festival Te Hau Komaru will be held in Tauranga
from 19-23 May 2021.
Te Hau Kōmaru chair Hoturoa
Barclay-Kerr launched the new festival from Porirua,
Wellington on May 2nd.
He says the festival aims to
raise awareness about waka hourua and all the things
connected to it. “This festival has a strong matauranga
theme which includes environmental awareness, astronomy,
hauora, creative arts and community
connectivity.”
“By the end of the festival we hope
to have increased people's understanding of the types of
knowledge systems associated with this practice and to see
learning pathways developed that all young people in
Aotearoa are able to follow.”
Te Puna o Rangiriri,
the voyaging trust of Pwo navigator Jack Thatcher, will be
hosting the festival in Tauranga.
Thatcher says the
festival is a celebration of all things waka hourua.
“It’s a chance for people to learn more about waka and
some of the things we’ve been doing, like voyaging across
the ocean to reconnect with ancestral homelands, with
Hawaiki.
Background:
Te Hau Kōmaru started
in Kawhia with Hinemoana waka, under the direction of Te
Toki Voyaging Trust, sailing to Waitohi-Picton to support
the Long Distance Waka Ama Nationals and organisers Ngā
Kaihoe o Aotearoa and Te Waka o Aoraki.
Hinemoana
then sailed to Mohua Golden Bay and onto Porirua where they
are being hosted by Ngāti Toa Rangatira at Hongoeka
Marae.
Hinemoana and her crew will then sail on May
5 to Ahuriri-Napier, and then onto Turanganui a
Kiwa-Gisborne, where she will be joined by Tai Rawhiti Waka
to sail to Mōtītī Island where they will be met by Haunui
Waka (from Tamaki Makaurau-Auckland) and Ngahiraka Mai
Tawhiti Waka (from Tauranga).
The fleet will then
sail to Tauranga Moana, where they will be welcomed by the
Waka Taua Tākitimu and local waka tangata.
The
national waka hourua festival Te Hau Kōmaru runs from May
19th-23rd with school and public interactive events on the
20th and 21st of May held at the Tauranga Bridge Marina, 101
Te Awanui Drive, Harbour Bridge Marina. There will also be
an open public day on May 22nd. There will be book launches
and the debut of a waiata and video from IA Maori Music, and
Tauranga Library events.
Te Hau Kōmaru is an
interim board of Waka Hourua experts charged with forming a
national waka hourua strategy, establishing a national
entity, and organising supporting events. The board was
formed in response to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s
commitment to support the continued development of waka
kaupapa and voyaging throughout Aotearoa.
