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Waka - Te Paranihi |
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| Te Paranihi with its interesting story, has been one of the most popular display items in the Otago Museum since its completion in the 1930's, and you can find it in the Tangata Whenua gallery. |
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The Waka - Te Paranihi |
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What is a waka?
The English translation of the Maori 'waka' is canoe. There are many different forms of waka, determined by their purpose, and the one at the Otago Museum is based on a 'waka taua' - a war canoe.
What are the origins of the waka?
This waka was made in about 1840 in the Wanganui region of the North Island for a local chief called Paturoma. It was made from the trunks of two totara trees, native trees, which grew in the valley of the Wanganui River. The hull is often referred to as a 'dugout' due to the method used to shape the vessel and, except for a rather simple prow, the waka was probably not decorated in any other way.
Just like other people around the world name their ships and boats, Maori also give their waka names. Our waka was called 'Tauria Komene'. However, in 1880 it was changed to 'Te Paranihi' in honour of when the waka was used to transport the Premier of New Zealand, Mr John Ballance, up the Wanganui river. The new name is actually a Maori translation of 'Ballance'.
Although originally intended to be a war canoe Te Paranihi was never used for fighting and instead the 16 metre long vessel was used as a fishing canoe by Maori in the region.
What's special about our waka?
The waka was purchased by the Otago Museum in 1931. It was restored and embellished in 1932 to represent the full glory of a war canoe. Unable to find Maori carvers from the Wanganui River area to do the carving, the work was instead carried out by Thomas Chappe Hall, an Englishman who had been taught by Hori Pukehika, a well known Maori carver from the area.
The sides of the canoe above the water, the 'papawaka', were carved out of kauri wood (also native), based on a design used in the Waitara area of Taranaki, a neighbouring region of Wanganui.
Additional elaborate prow and stern carvings ('tauihu' and 'taurapa') were attached. These date from 1842 and had already been donated to the Museum by Octavius Harwood, an early settler of the Otago Peninsula. It is thought that the carvings were once part of a waka taua made in 1828 in the Kapiti Coast area (south of Wanganui) and had been gifted by Te Rauparaha to the Ngai Tahu chief Matenga Taiaroa, presumably as a peace offering to his former enemies in the South Island. |
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