Waka Migrations

Question 1

Why did people migrate to Aotearoa, specifically from Hawaiki?

Answer 1

Migrants left to escape conflicts over land boundaries, gardens and fruit trees; or conflicts between men of rank seeking to marry the same woman
Turi (of Aotea waka) left after hearing a threatening song composed by his opponent and which his wife had overheard and sung to him.
Internal cultural imperatives were probably a key driver.

Question 2

Where does Te Reo Maori stem from?

Answer 2

Te Reo Maori groups with languages in Cook Islands, Society Islands and Tuamotu Islands, as the ‘Tahitic’ branch of Polynesian language tree.

Question 3

Where the tools and objects from east and west Polynesia similar?

Answer 3

No, tools and objects found in East Polynesia are quite different from anything found in Fiji or West Polynesia (Samoa, Tonga etc).

Question 4

Where is the ancestral homeland?

Answer 4

Hawaiki is the ancestral homeland

Question 5

What is ‘Hawaiki’?

Answer 5

Hawaiki is not a single island or island group but a zone of islands, located in Southeastern Polynesia.

Question 6

Who built the waka?

Answer 6

Teams of tohunga

Question 7

Name the chief builder of Tainui waka.

Answer 7

Rakataura.

Question 8

Who are Turi, Tama-te-kapua and

Whakaotirangi?

Answer 8

1. Turi, commander of the Aotea waka
2. Tama-te-kapua, commander of Te Arawa waka
3. Whakaotirangi, female leader, Tainui waka

Question 9

Waka names usually reflect…

Answer 9

… incidents which occurred during building

Question 10

What does the waka name Horouta mean?

Answer 10

Swallowed-land because it was quick to build.

Question 11

What does the waka name Tainui mean?

Answer 11

Big-in-sea, because it did not sit right in the sea and needed remedial work.

Question 12

What kind of cargo was on the waka?

Answer 12

Plants (taro, kumara), animals (kiore = pacific rat, kuri = dog), tools, weapons, mauri (protective stones)

Question 13

When was the earliest dated archaeological site in Aotearoa?

Answer 13

Mid-14th century

Question 14

Was is meant by the ‘multi-generational migration pattern’?

Answer 14

Multiple arrivals over a century or so involving a number of canoes arriving from Hawaiki.
Waka arrivals over two or more generations.

Question 15

What does mitochondrial DNA tell us about waka migrations?

Answer 15

Mitochondrial DNA studies in modern Maori suggest at least 190 females must have been present in founding crews, making about 500 people as founding population.

Question 16

What is the relevance of Wairau bar?

Answer 16

Wairau Bar, at the mouth of the Wairau River in Marlborough, is one of the oldest archaeological sites in New Zealand. Artefacts have been radiocarbon dated to around 1300 AD.
Evidence here of early Maori settlement with strong evidence of direct link to Hawaiki.
Mitochondrial DNA study of human remains shows none of the remains were maternally connected, they originated from different genetic communities, i.e. different islands.

Question 17

What do burial practices tell us about early settlement?

Answer 17

At Wairau bar the location of burial sites are close to the village, as in tropical East Polynesia, but in contrast to later Maori practices when bodies were secreted away from sites of occupation. This is evidence which supports that Wairau bar is a site of early Maori settlement.

Question 18

During waka voyage the crew had different roles to play. Who would be the commander at the stern?

Answer 18

Rangatira

Question 19

During waka voyage the crew had different roles to play. Who would have been responsible for navigation and protection from the elements?

Answer 19

Tohunga

Question 20

Roughly speaking, how many people make up a crew of a waka?

Answer 20

About 22 - 70

Question 21

Name some key waka.

Answer 21

Aotea
Horo-uta
Mataatua
Te Arawa

Question 22

What happened to kurahaupo waka?

Answer 22

It got wrecked and washed ashore on Rangitahua Island.

Question 23

What happened to crew on Tuwhenua waka?

Answer 23

They experienced leprosy.

Question 24

Which waka lost goods and crew at Moeraki Boulders and capsized at Shag Point?

Answer 24

Arai-te-uru

Question 25

What were some first actions upon landing? (5)

Answer 25

1. Erect a tuahu (alter, sacred site) to thank the atua for their protection, comprising of fire, mauri (special stones), wooden posts.
2. Karakia.
3. Exploration and naming of the landscape.
4. Identify resource base of new land, especially its industrial grade stone resource.
5. Planting crops.

Question 26

What adaptation had to happen in order to thrive in this new land? (3)

Answer 26

1. Development of food storage techniques due to cooler weather.
2. Maintaining and adapting ancestral tool kits due to lost resources.
3. Adaptation to rich local resources: animals.