Waka (canoe)

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In the Māori language and New Zealand English, waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes. Similar craft are encountered elsewhere in Polynesia, with cognate names such as vaka.^[1]

Waka range in size from small, lightweight canoes such as waka tiwai used for fishing or river travel by individuals or small groups, through to very large waka taua (war canoes), manned by up to 80 paddlers and up to 40 metres in length, and large double-hulled canoes for oceanic voyaging.

Many waka are single-hulled vessels made from hollowed tree trunks. Small waka consist of a single piece while large waka usually consist of several pieces jointed and lashed together. A waka ama is an outrigger canoe. Some waka, particularly in the Chatham Islands, were not conventional canoes but were constructed from raupo (bulrushes) or flax stalks.

Ocean-going waka, whatever their size, could be paddled but were normally propelled by sail. Waka taua are paddled to demonstrate their mana.

Small utilitarian waka are usually plain and unornamented. Larger canoes, waka taua in particular, are elaborately carved and decorated. Waka taua are no longer used in warfare but chiefly for ceremonial purposes.

The Polynesian settlers of New Zealand migrated to New Zealand in large waka. The names and stories associated with those waka were passed on in oral history (korero nehera) as the descendants of the settlers multiplied and separated into iwi (tribes) and hapu (sub-tribes). Consequently the word waka is used to denote confederations of iwi descended from the people of one migratory canoe.

Waka is also used in broader senses that can be translated as vessel or vehicle. A waka huia is a hollowed and carved vessel used for storing of taonga (treasures) such as the prized tail feathers of the now-extinct huia bird that are worn as ornaments in the hair. The neologism waka-rere-rangi (literally: waka (vehicle) that flies in the sky) was coined for aircraft.

The word has five other meanings in the Williams Māori dictionary but only the above definitions have entered New Zealand English. The word is also found in several compound forms which are closely related to the idea of the waka as a vessel or container, ranging from waka niho for a car's gearbox to waka hari hino, for an oil tanker.

In recent years, waka racing has become an occasionally seen sport in New Zealand, often performed as part of larger festivals, in much the same way that dragon boat racing is competed.