Waka Knowledge

Waka Workshops

Waka Wananga and Creative Workshops …

Te Ara Nui Waka Centre will provide creative workshops and wananga for participants to learn multiple aspects of Te Ao Maori and Toi Maori. These workshops will be led by Tohunga Toi Ake Wikuki Kingi and will dive in matauranga Maori, and the culture and heritage of Maori art. Two types of workshops will be offered:

Creative Workshops (3 hours) for up to 12 participants

Toi Maori Wananga (2 days) for up to 10 participants

Details regarding dates, locations, and prices for these workshops coming soon …

Waka Safety

Safety on the Water Training Courses …

We will 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 Te Ara Nui …

Te Ara Nui Waka Centre 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 Te Ara Nui Waka Centre repository, safeguarded by Māori Data Sovereignty Principles.

Waka Design Innovations

We are constantly designing and developing Waka Innovations …

Te Ara Nui Waka Centre’s workshops cutting-edge engineering capability will enable our team and communities 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.

Special polymers and recyclable 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.