January 25, 2016
Tradition revived for Tamaki festival
Iwi of Tamaki Makaurau are putting their best paddles forward for the inaugural Tamaki Herenga Waka Festival over Auckland Anniversary Weekend.
Waka races between the iwi and maataa waka teams will be held in the Maritime Museum Basin on Saturday, with viewing space available along Princes Wharf.
People will also get the opportunity over the long weekend to go on the waka hourua Haunui and Aotearoa One, and on Sunday they can paddle a waka taua.
There will also be a range of onshore events including music, kapa haka and storytelling.
Hauauru Rawiri, the chair of the festival’s Mana Whenua steering group, says while the iwi compete on issues like the treaty settlements, they all came together to celebrate a shared legacy that is part of reclaiming their place in the city.
"160 years ago the Auckland Anniversary Weekend Regatta was Maori competing against each other in waka racing and that will rejuvenate because we will have inter-tribal waka racing next weekend so it's following in the footsteps of our ancestors, and this event does that," he says.
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