What were waka made of?
4 min read
Asked by: Joshua Mack
tree trunkstree trunks. In Polynesia, waka were narrow and not very stable, because they were carved from narrow trees. Some canoes had outriggers at the side to keep them steady. But New Zealand had vast forests of big trees such as tōtara and kauri.
What were waka sails made of?
Although there were regional variations within New Zealand, most sails were temporary and could be hoisted or struck in a few minutes. The roughly triangular sail, usually made from either flax, tī leaves or raupō (bulrushes) or a combination, was set about one-third back from the bow.
What trees are waka made from?
The usual type seen now is the waka-tiwai, the ordinary canoe chopped and adzed out of a totara or rimu or kahikatea tree, just a skilfully hollowed long log, without topsides or bow or stern adornments.
What are the parts of a waka?
A Waka Ama consists of a hull with one or more outrigger pontoons (Ama), rigged out to the side for stability and lashed to the hull with cross beam members (kiato). The hull has sealed bow (ihu) bulkheads and stern (kei) bulkheads. Ihu. The front of the waka.
What are the 7 Māori waka?
The seven waka hourua that arrived to Aotearoa were Tainui, Te Arawa, Mātaatua, Kurahaupō, Tokomaru, Aotea and Tākitimu.
What are Māori sails made of?
The material usually employed by the Maori in making sails was the leaf of raupo, of which Colenso says, “Their canoe-sails were curiously constructed of bulrush-leaves laid flat edge to edge, and laced across with flax.”
What did Polynesians use to make sails?
pandanus leaves
The sails were made of mats woven from pandanus leaves. These vessels were seaworthy enough to make voyages of over 2,000 miles along the longest sea roads of Polynesia, like the one between Hawai’i and Tahiti.
How are waka built?
Waka are built from tree trunks. In Polynesia, waka were narrow and not very stable, because they were carved from narrow trees. Some canoes had outriggers at the side to keep them steady. But New Zealand had vast forests of big trees such as tōtara and kauri.
Which tree is found only in New Zealand in the World?
Cabbage tree (Cordyline australis), also known as cabbage palm, is one of the most distinct trees endemic to New Zealand.
What does the word waka mean?
canoe
Definition of waka
: canoe broadly : a Maori seagoing craft.
Is Hawaiki real?
The actual location has never been confirmed, and it is uncertain if it is a real, physical island, or a mythical place. Some have associated Hawaiki with the Tahitian island Ra’iātea (Rangiātea, in Māori). Like Hawaiki, Rangiātea is seen as both a physical and spiritual place.
When was the first waka made?
Navigation was without instruments. In the 1970s, the Polynesians began to develop double-hulled canoes to sail in the rough waters of the open Pacific. Spurred by this interest, Hekenukumai Busby built New Zealand’s first waka hourua, Te Aurere, in 1991–1992 and completed the second, Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, in 2011.
What was the first waka in NZ?
When identifying themselves, Māori mention their founding waka first and foremost. Archaeological and recent scientific evidence suggests that Māori first discovered and settled in New Zealand sometime between 1250 and 1300 ad, on deliberate voyages of discovery, navigating by ocean currents, the winds, and the stars.
Where did the 7 waka come from?
According to this theory, the Polynesian explorer Kupe first discovered New Zealand from Tahiti in 925 AD, and was followed by another explorer, Toi, in 1150; after this, in 1350, a fleet of seven canoes sailed from Tahiti and Rarotonga, bringing the ancestors of Māori to New Zealand.
Did Māori eat seals?
Māori sealing
They were an obvious prey for Māori. As the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster recorded, seal meat was ‘a most excellent & palatable food; by far more tender, juicy & delicate than beefstakes’. In addition, seal teeth were valuable for fish hooks.
