Ngā Toki Matawhaorua of Pewhairangi, often simply known as Ngā Toki, is the name of a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 waka taua

Waka (canoe)

Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...

 (large, ornately-carved Māori war canoe).

It is named after Matawhaorua, the canoe of Kupe

Kupe

In the Māori mythology of some tribes, Kupe was involved in the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand.-Contention:There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S....

, the Polynesian discoverer of the islands now known as New Zealand; Kupe's canoe was later re-adzed and renamed Ngātokimatawhaorua. It was built in 1940 at the instigation of Te Puea Herangi

Te Puea Herangi

Te Puea Herangi, CBE was a respected Māori leader from New Zealand's Waikato region known by the name Princess Te Puea.-Early life:...

 for the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi

Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....

. It was refurbished by master waka builder and navigator Hekenukumai Ngā Iwi (Hector) Busby in 1974 for relaunching during the Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.-History:...

 ceremonies at Waitangi

Waitangi, Northland

For the main port and settlement at the Chatham Islands, see Waitangi, Chatham IslandsWaitangi is a township located in the Bay of Islands on the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the town of Paihia , 60 kilometres north of Whangarei...

, Northland

Northland (New Zealand electorate)

Northland is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The electorate was established for the 1996 election and is currently not represented, after the only MP for the electorate so far, John Carter of the National Party,...

 and has been paddled periodically since that time.

Ngā Toki can carry 80 paddlers and 55 other passengers. It is the largest canoe in New Zealand, measuring 35.7 metres long and up to 2 metres wide. It held the Guinness World Record for the world's longest canoe until July 12, 2006, when it was supplanted by a canoe built in Newport, Maine.

See also

• Polynesian navigation
  Polynesian navigation
  Polynesian navigation is a system of navigation used by Polynesians to make long voyages across thousands of miles of open ocean. Navigators travel to small inhabited islands using only their own senses and knowledge passed by oral tradition from navigator to apprentice, often in the form of song...
  
  
• Hector Busby
  Hector Busby
  Hector Busby is a Māori navigator and traditional ship builder in New Zealand...
  
  , Māori navigator and traditional ship builder of New Zealand.
• Hokule'a
  Hokulea
  Hōkūlea is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, she is best known for her 1976 Hawaii to Tahiti voyage performed with Polynesian navigation techniques, without modern...
  
  , Hawaiian double-hulled ship and voyages.

External links

• http://www.maoriart.org.nz/about/committees/nga_waka
• http://communities.co.nz/Hokianga/Feature.cfm?WPID=208