Journey of Discovery

Taking a large group of British students on a Whanganui River Waka Tour is a challenge. The Tangaroa family and their guides see it as an opportunity to share their culture.

Words: Amokura Panoho  Photographs: Serena Stevenson

Sharing her culture is how Tanea (above) helps
provide an authentic experience for visitors.

THE CITY OF LONDON seems very far away as a group of teenagers from Verulam School in St Albans, Hertfordshire practise a haka on the banks of the Whanganui River beneath the Tieke marae. Loud chants echo as the young men stamp their feet and slap their chests, connecting with the history of the people, the river and the mountain. The Maori guides smile at the antics of the young men, approving the camaraderie that has already emerged on this river journey.

At dusk the call of the karanga replaces the echo of the haka in the hills. A karakia (blessing) is said while the aroma of chicken casserole wafts through the gathering. It’s the second night of a three-day river journey and the British teachers and students appreciate their hot meal. They are canoeing along the river’s scenic middle reaches in the Whanganui National Park with overnight stays at marae on the riverbanks.

With dishes done and hot drinks to hand, the formalities of evening prayers are completed. New visitors are introduced and the proceedings continue until everyone has had the opportunity to share their thoughts of the day. The laughter spills into the late evening and NZ Life & Leisure drifts off to sleep to the sound of young people singing.

Key organiser of the journey, Niko Tangaroa from Whanganui River Waka Tours is the eldest son of the late Niko Tangaroa who established Tauakira Waka Tours in 1992. Niko senior was a man of mana to the people of Te Atihaunui-A-Paparangi, the local iwi, and he saw it as a chance to reclaim the area’s history and care for the river environment.

Initially the tours were not designed for tourism but two years after Niko senior died in 1998, the younger Niko returned from Australia to help keep his father’s legacy alive. “My sister Tanea and younger brother Kiwa had been on every journey with my father. At that time the tours were run informally so we spent our first year putting into place the systems that were needed to operate commercially. It was a privilege as well as a big responsibility and meant personal challenges to my own cultural knowledge and the changing of people’s attitudes. With the support of family and other key people we have managed to develop an eco-tourism business we renamed Waka Tours. I see it as a vehicle to assist in sustaining the mana of the river and its marae.”

Paora Haitana, aka Baldy, is something of a modern-day legend on the river and one of those key people appreciated by Waka Tours. He travelled as Niko senior’s right-hand man on earlier river journeys and today provides the cultural integrity to nurture the next generation of the Tangaroa family. “Without Baldy’s traditional knowledge and support of my brother’s business management ideas we would struggle,” says Tanea. “Success for us is related to our ability to be part of the river. It has been a long journey but people like Baldy are helping us live our dream.”

Baldy leads the poroporoaki (farewell ceremony) on the last morning of the journey with a mixture of humour and reverence. He uses examples of Greek and Italian statues to explain the carvings on the poutokomanawa (statue) at Tieke marae, enjoying the laughter his story produces. His audience now understands the symbolism of the carvings that represent many ancestors. Baldy explains that statues used to adorn the riverbank, identifying the 20-plus marae that housed the river’s inhabitants, giving his listeners an insight into tribal complexities.

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