Waka Knowledge

Waka Safety

Safety on the Water Training Courses …

We train paddlers of all ages, shapes, sizes, and levels of abilities to be safe on the water. This includes all components of the waka, canoes, and watercraft; equipment needed; communications; planning for trips; understanding weather conditions; navigations; rules and regulations for operating watercraft - all following our tikanga-centric approach - being respectful to each other, our waterways, and our planet.

Waka Research and Development

Matauranga Maori and Pasifika Knowledge are illuminated through Kainga Waka …

Kainga Waka will create a living repository of mātauranga toi, tarai waka and mātauranga waka in all its diversity, supported by the latest best practice in flexible, scalable, secure digital database design. Ongoing series of creative wānanga and community arts projects will form the basis of new knowledge generation seeking innovative ways to express ancient and contemporary waka storytelling modalities in multiple media, to be housed in the Kainga Waka repository, safeguarded by Māori Data Sovereignty Principles.

Waka Design Innovations

We are constantly designing and developing Waka Innovations …

The workshop’s cutting-edge engineering capability will enable Whaotapu Trust to finally realise a vision that has been on the horizon for many years, simply awaiting the resources, funding and access to technology to birth it into Te Ao Mārama: the Waka Taniwha Class of waka. The Waka Taniwha is the product of extensive wānanga and research fusing mātauranga Māori with innovative, contemporary materials and engineering: a flat pack, CNC machined, high extension buttwelded, 8-person waka made from a robust, high-grade polymer composed primarily of recycled plastic materials.

These materials allow for the creation of waka that are user-friendly, family-friendly, easy to maintain and transport and purposely designed and engineered to be a ‘forgiving training platform’ allowing paddlers to practice freely without worrying too much about the state of the waka itself.

The Waka Taniwha is positioned to fill a considerable gap in the ‘fun on the water’ space, greatly expanding accessibility and participation in on-water waka activities, including for those who are very tall and large; for kuia and kaumatua; rangatahi and tamariki; and for some people with disabilities, including wheelchair users.

Kainga Waka Media

We will share Kainga Waka stories with our whanau - and with the world!

Kainga Waka: Puāwaitanga o Te Moemoeā documentary film

This documentary follows the Kainga Waka Alliance as they journey toward the fulfilment of a dream that has spanned over four generations - to build a Waka Centre of Excellence in Tāmaki Makaurau. The film examines the history of waka in Aotearoa and across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa/Kiva, the colonial destruction of waka during early European settlement and colonisation, while capturing the community desire for the centre through interviews with the founding alliance members, community groups and leaders across te ao māori and the broader multi-cultural community, along with celebrities and politicians. The filmmakers capture the journey in full - from the alliance seeking funding for the project, through to construction of the centre and finally on to the grand opening celebrations that will be heard across Aotearoa New Zealand.