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February 20, 2026
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated voyaging waka sets course for Samoa in five-year Pacific return
Waatea Team
Posted On February 20, 2026
The Ngāti Kahungunu double-hulled voyaging waka Te Matau-a-Māui is preparing to depart for Samoa as part of an ambitious five-year Pacific journey known as Te Hokinga – The Return.
Owned by Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated and operated by Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust, the voyage will retrace the ancestral pathways of the Tākitimu waka, the principal ancestral waka of Ngāti Kahungunu.
Te Hokinga represents a return of Tākitimu descendants to the historical landmarks, cultural knowledge and traditions that shaped their tīpuna before arrival in Aotearoa.
The voyage acknowledges the deep whakapapa links between Ngāti Kahungunu and the wider Pacific. It honours the islands where the ancestral waka once rested, was renamed, and where enduring relationships remain.
The first journey will take Te Matau-a-Māui to Upolu in Samoa, reconnecting descendants with communities who carry shared histories of Tākitimu.
Master navigator Piripi Smith of Ngāti Kahungunu, founder of Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust, says the heart of Te Hokinga lies in reconnecting descendants of the tīpuna waka with Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa through ceremony, wānanga and kōrero with Pacific communities.
The crew will engage with villages and whānau who trace their lineage to the same ancestral narratives, strengthening bonds that span generations and oceans.
The voyage will also mark a significant milestone for two trainee navigators, siblings Te Kaha Hawaikirangi and Te Pō Mārie Hawaikirangi-Willison.
Both have trained under Smith for years – Te Kaha beginning in 2013 and Te Pō in 2019 – and will now undertake graduation sails using traditional wayfinding methods.
Their navigation will rely entirely on environmental knowledge: reading the stars, sun, moon, winds, ocean swells and bird movements to guide the waka across vast stretches of ocean.
Te Kaha’s graduation challenge will involve navigating from Aotearoa to locate Upolu in Samoa. Te Pō Mārie will undertake her own graduation sail from Fiji back to Te Ika a Māui in Aotearoa.
The milestone highlights the revitalisation of traditional Pacific navigation and the resurgence of Indigenous maritime knowledge.
Rangatahi aged 12 to 22 are currently in training alongside their parents and will participate in stages of the 2026 voyage.
The involvement of whānau across generations is central to maintaining intergenerational transmission of mātauranga. The project is designed not only as a physical journey but as a cultural and educational movement that strengthens identity and continuity.
To support the voyage, Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust has developed educational resources that complement the journey.
These include a graphic novel exploring the homelands and voyages of the Tākitimu waka, as well as an activity book aligned with Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum.
The resources aim to ensure that the stories and knowledge gathered during Te Hokinga are shared widely with schools and communities across the country.
Te Hokinga will unfold over five years, with multiple journeys across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa planned.
For Ngāti Kahungunu, the voyage is not simply symbolic. It is a reaffirmation of ancestral pathways, a strengthening of Pacific relationships, and a commitment to sustaining traditional navigation practices for future generations.
As Te Matau-a-Māui prepares to leave Aotearoa’s shores, the return to Samoa marks the beginning of a journey grounded in whakapapa, mātauranga and the enduring connections that bind Pacific peoples across the ocean.
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