Recently 166 paddlers of Whanganui iwi descent took to the Whanganui river on their annual spiritual journey, Te Tira Hoe Waka.

It was Te Tira Hoe Waka’s 20th anniversary, and is a time of wānanga, spiritual observance and learning, where descendants paddle down their river from the mountain to the sea.

“The kaupapa is about celebrating our whanganuitanga and whanaungatanga and ingraining a sense of identity and pride in our people,” says Te Tira Hoe Waka Organising Committee chairman Gerrard Albert.

“We don’t often seek external assistance but this time we needed help because of the larger numbers and Te Puni Kōkiri helped us achieve our goals by providing support for marae capacity, hireage of safety equipment and more,” he says.

The paddlers were also supported on the 17-day journey by more than 120 people who followed in cars.

“The wānanga also has a practical component from cooking to erecting structures, cleaning to water safety… it’s about kotahitanga and us working together as one,” says Gerrard.

“It’s a highly spiritual experience visiting old remote and secluded kāinga and pā that were once inhabited by our ancestors. This kaupapa now is ingrained in us and we will continue to encourage all Whanganui descendants to join us year after year,” he says.

“Kaumātua and paheke were instrumental in encouraging the current generation to return to the river to secure the intergenerational transfer of Whanganui tribal lore and history. Hence the kōrero – ‘kaua e kōrero mō te awa, me kōrero ki tō awa; do not merely speak about your river, go and commune with it’.