Abstract:
When Tasman and Cook arrived in New Zealand in 1642 and 1769 respectively they both sighted double hulled canoes on New Zealand’s coast (Haddon and Hornell 1997) however over the next 100 or so years these canoes disappeared. Fortuitously the recent rescue and conservation of a waterlogged waka and fibre work assemblage on the shores of Papanui Inlet has allowed rare insight into the lives of its inhabitants nearly 550 years ago when New Zealand’s seminal migrants established themselves in the remote south of New Zealand. These discoveries reinforce traditional stories around early Māori occupation of Te Waipounamu and offer additional clarification of iwi activities in their local environment many generations ago. Conservation of these taonga on Ōtākou Marae has provided easy, continuous access for descendants of the waka to their taonga throughout the conservation process and aided the development of constructive relationships among iwi, conservation and archaeology. This paper discusses iwi perspectives, documents the assemblage, evaluates cross cultural engagement and compares another waka discovered within the Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou rohe over 120 years ago.
