Te Matau a Māui, the Ngāti Kahungunu double-hulled voyaging waka owned by Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc and operated by the Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust, is preparing for the first of two significant voyages across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa over the next five years.

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The voyages known as Te Hokinga (the Return) will retrace the ancestral pathways of the waka known as Takitimu, the principal waka of Ngāti Kahungunu. The kaupapa reflects a return to the places, people, and ancestral knowledge and traditions that shaped this waka long before it reached Aotearoa.

Te Hokinga acknowledges the deep whakapapa connections that link Ngāti Kahungunu to the wider Pacific and honours the islands where the ancestral waka once rested, was renamed, and where enduring relationships were formed.

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The main aims of this 2026 voyage are:

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• To follow in the wake of our ancestors

At the heart of Te Hokinga is a return to the homelands of this ancient waka across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Through ceremony, wānanga and kōrero with local villages and communities, the crew will engage with the many waka stories of our ancestors held across the Pacific, strengthening whakapapa relationships.

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• Growing the next generation of navigators

The voyage includes the graduation of two trainee navigators, siblings Te Kaha Hawaikirangi and Te Pō Mārie Hawaikirangi. Over the past twelve and five years respectively, they have trained under master navigator Piripi Smith of Ngāti Kahungunu. On this journey they will navigate without modern instruments, relying on the stars, sun, moon, winds, ocean swells and bird life.

There will be two graduation sails. To graduate as a kaiwhakatere waka, Te Kaha must “fish up” the island of Upolu in Samoa from Aotearoa. Te Pō Mārie will undertake her own graduation sail, navigating from Fiji to “fish up” Te Ika a Māui in Aotearoa.

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• Creating connections, memories and building experience 

Open-ocean voyaging is a defining experience for all crew, physically, mentally and spiritually. Rangatahi aged 12 to 22 are currently in training alongside their parents and will take part in stages of the 2026 voyage, helping ensure this mātauranga becomes intergenerational. Members of the wider waka whānau will also travel to Samoa and Fiji via plane to participate.

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• Keeping our tamariki involved

A number of local Hawke's Bay schools that regularly participate in the Ātea Trust's programs are keen to track and engage with the crew members via live star link classroom feeds.​

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Voyage preparation – what’s happening now

Preparation includes celestial navigation training at Ātea a Rangi, waka maintenance, provision planning, crew safety training, maritime certification courses, and joint planning wānanga with the Samoa Voyaging Society and Uto Ni Yalo Trust in Fiji. This groundwork ensures the waka and crew will be ready for departure in September 2026.

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Voyage Support and Fundraising​

To date this voyage is totally self funding by the Ātea Trust and crew, over the past couple years of delivering corporate sails and selling merchandise. If your organisation is keen to help sponsor this epic voyage please make contact with us.

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To keep up to date with the voyage media comms and preparation visit:

https://www.facebook.com/atea.nz

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