September 23, 2019
Family festival as waka and tall ships arrive
An organiser of Tuia 250 commemorations in Gisborne says a lot of work has gone into creating safe spaces to explore what happened when Māori and Pākehā first came into contact.
Te Hā Trust general manager Glenis Philip-Barbara says while much has been made of Tūranganui a Kiwa iwi refusing to have a pōwhiri for the Endeavour, the tall ships are very much part of the event.
On October 5 there will be a mass pōwhiri for the Polynesian contingent of the Tuia 250 flotilla.
The following day the public is invited to the inner harbour to learn something of voyaging and celestial navigation.
When the Endeavour and other tall ships arrive on October 8, it will be a chance to see the two voyaging traditions come together, and the public can get a view from Waikanae beach in a family-style fun day before the reception at the civic centre.
"When those people come off the tall ships, many of our people, Māori and Pākehā, will actually see some of their relatives. I mean, these aren’t the English sailing in on the Endeavour or on the R Tucker Thompson or on the Spirit of New Zealand on that day. These are our kids. These are our people on these ships who are participating on the voyage to expand their own mātauranga around how we all arrived here many hundreds of years ago," Ms Philip Barbara says.
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