HomeNewsAboutCommunitiesSearchSchoolsInteractGatewayHelp
TKI Hot Topics banner
  View list of Hot Topics | Your idea for a Hot Topic | Feedback | Subscribe

Hot Topic: Waka

Back to Top

Resources on TKI

Kupe’s Travels around Aotearoa

This story takes us around Aotearoa, following in the footsteps of Kupe and his family. The names that were given to places are still used today. After travelling around parts of the North and South Island, Kupe and his family returned to their homeland and told people about the land they had visited.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/maori/nga_pakiwaitara/kupe-aotearoa/index_e.php

Waka Building

In this learning example the students identify, compare, and contrast a variety of cultures’ narrative dances. Students choreograph a dance that uses narrative structure to show a sequence of events in the building of a waka, and then use different sections of the dance to depict the events (e.g. the hui, selection and felling of the tree by the elders and tohunga, carving, blessing, launching). Includes ideas for planning and assessment, supporting links, a glossary, and references for teaching and learning materials.
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/arts/dance/dance_L5/dance_L5_A1_menu.php

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Resources

Waka – Canoes

This resource looks at the Pacific origins of waka, waka taua, other types of waka, waka equipment, waka in New Zealand, waka tētē, and Moriori waka.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/SeaAndAirTransport/WakaCanoes/en

Canoe Navigation

This resource looks at waka, locating land, recent voyaging, ocean voyaging, and the decline and renaissance of canoe voyaging.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/CanoeNavigation/en

Canoe Traditions

This resource looks at the meaning of canoe traditions, canoes of the Bay of Plenty, canoes of the west coast and lower North Island, canoes of the northern tide, Te Arawa and Tainui, canoes of the South Island, other northern canoes, and canoes of the east coast.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/CanoeTraditions/en

Pacific Migrations

This resource looks at the world’s first seafarers, West to East Polynesia, Māori ancestors, ancient voyaging, Pacific navigation and exploration, reasons for exploring, the Lapita people, and the east Pacific.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/PacificMigrations/en

Whenua – How the Land was Shaped (Te Ika-a- Māui, Te Waka-a- Māui)

This resource explores the Māori legend that tells the story of how the North and South Islands of New Zealand came to be.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/Geology/WhenuaHowTheLandWasShaped/2/en

Polynesian Voyaging Society Resources

Polynesian Voyaging Society

The Society researches how Polynesian seafarers discovered and settled nearly every inhabitable island in the Pacific Ocean, before European explorers arrived in the 16th century. The website includes bibliographies on Polynesian migration and voyaging, and recent voyages to Tahiti, Aotearoa, Rarotonga, Marquesas, Rapanui, British Columbia, and Alaska.
http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/index.html

Canoe Building

These resources provide information on traditional Hawaiian canoes.
http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/L2canoebuild.html

Polynesian Migrations

These resources include information on migration by waka from Hawaii, and a map of Polynesia.
http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/L2migrations.html

Wayfinding – Non-Instrumental Navigation

This resource provides information on traditional navigation, using natural indicators such as the weather.
http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/L2wayfind.html

Interactive Resources

Packing a Waka

This interactive activity, from Puke Ariki, shows what the Polynesian explorers would have brought with them on their voyages to Aotearoa.
http://www.pukeariki.com/en/resources/teacherscentre/packingawaka.htm

Wayfinders the Game

This online game involves navigating the Pacific Ocean using handcrafted sailing canoes. You must decide whether you are going on a voyage of exploration or colonisation. Use natural cues such as the sun, moon, and stars to navigate your way around the Pacific.
http://www.pbs.org/wayfinders/

Online Exhibitions

Artok Pacific Arts Online

ArTok and Museum Victoria present an online exhibition of artefacts that illustrate the history and significance of Pacific watercraft. Information is provided on canoes, bailers, models, decorations, paddles, and sails.
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/artok/pasifika/default.htm

Pacific Island Canoe Models

This online tour explores the basic canoe designs from Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Includes an image gallery.
http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/ethnologydb/tours/tour.asp?tour=2&page=1

Other Resources

Maritime New Zealand Waka Guidelines

These guidelines have been developed to clarify the roles and responsibilities of those who are involved in waka use. It outlines training, operational, and emergency procedures, equipment, and construction requirements.
http://www.msa.govt.nz/waka/waka_intro.asp

Nga Waka Federation – Traditional Canoe Skills

This site provides information on the waka that took part in the commemorations at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, on the 6th of February 1990.
http://www.maoriart.org.nz/about/committees/nga_waka

Pacific Arts Online: Te Vainui o Pasifika - Canoes

This part of the Pacific Arts online website features images of Pacific canoes. It gives details about where each canoe is from, how it was made, and its purpose. Information is provided on the different models, decorations, bailers, paddles, and sails.
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/artok/pasifika/canoes.htm

Putting iwi on the map - Te putu mapi o ngā Iwi

This map of Aotearoa illustrates where the first Māori waka landed, and the locations of the related iwi.
http://www.manukau-libraries.govt.nz/tereo/whatwehave/Maori/waka.htm

The Waka – Te Paranihi

This waka, displayed at Otago Museum, is discussed, giving its origins, and how it is special to the museum.
http://www.otagomuseum.govt.nz/the_waka_te_paranihi.html

Transit of Venus – Waka Voyaging

A selection of websites, videos, multimedia, interactive and written material that examines the story of Polynesian and Maori ocean voyaging in the Pacific.
http://www.transitofvenus.auckland.ac.nz/wakavoyaging/

Vaka Moana

An Auckland Museum exhibition that illustrates how the Pacific began to be explored 3-4000 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Pacific peoples. It explores how they developed vessels and a means of navigating based on observations of the sea and the sky.
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/vakamoana/default.asp

Please note: These links were valid when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find anything inappropriate, if you find a broken link, or if you have an update for a link by emailing links@tki.org.nz. Te Kete Ipurangi recommends that teachers view all websites we link to before using them with students.

Back to Top