Kia ora koutou e mātakitaki mai nā
He whakaaturanga tēnei i te terenga mōkihi i mahia e māua ko Jeremy Hantler i te tau 2018, ki runga i te awa tupua o Whanganui. Kātahi te haerenga pai ko tērā! Kua heke ngā tau ināianei, engari ko te tūmanako ia ka hoki anō angeau ki te hanga i ēnei waka, ki te hāpai i tēnei taonga o ngā mātua tūpuna ki ā rātou nā mokopuna. Mouri tū mouri ora, ko te mouri o te mōkihi kei te tatari ki a tātou ngā uri. Hīkina te hoe!
This is a little video about the trip my friend Jeremy and I took on a mōkihi I'd constructed, down the beautiful Whanganui river from Taumarunui to Pipiriki over 5 days. We had a great time, and the most memorable for me was that spent with the haukāinga of Tieke on our last night, which really made it special. I've done a bit of teaching tamariki to make little model mōkihi in kura over the years, but one day I hope to lead expeditions like this for our taitamariki, as it's so empowering to make your own waka and use it to have adventures in the taiao.
I am very grateful to the late Rangi Te Maihāroa who kindly gifted me the knowledge of how to build these waka, a taonga from his own heritage that I believe would have been used widely in Aotearoa in the times of our tūpuna. We are fortunate that people like matua Rangi kept the tradition alive, and had the generosity to share it. And actually, I mainly put this video together to let his whānau see the pleasure I have got from his legacy.
And thanks to Jeremy for being copilot and the lovely gift of the pūtōrino you see him playing in the video, on the night we stayed at Tieke kāinga. Mouri ora e hoa!
Music: Migfus20
