Moriori descendants are calling for urgent government support as they enter the third year of excavating Rangihoua, a waka miheke considered one of the most tapu waka from the third recorded migration to Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands.
Father and son Vincent and Nikau Dix discovered the waka in 2024 on the north coast of Rēkohu.
More than 800 pieces have since been recovered and studied, raising hopes that the waka can be excavated in its entirety.
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka and Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith recently visited the island, and ta imi Moriori shared their knowledge of the waka with the ministers and urged them to support its excavation and potential recovery.
Moriori descendant Maui Solomon said oral traditions recorded the waka’s place in Moriori history and its significance to its people.
“It was also noted in our traditions it was a waka that carried the etchu or the gods. So it was obviously a very tapu waka, once it was buried they would not have wanted to then excavate it. So, it was just left there.”
“So, we have to respect that tapu but we also have to be pragmatic and deal with the weather conditions and the mud and the wind, the cold and all of those things.”
Rangihoua
Rangihoua, a double-hulled, ocean-voyaging canoe, is considered a significant archaeological discovery in the history of Polynesian voyaging. Archaeologists have carbon-dated the waka to the mid-1400s.
Moriori oral histories identify Rangihoua as one of the third fleet of waka to migrate from Hawaiki to Rēkohu, alongside Rangimata.
Rangihoua was wrecked on arrival at what is now known as Rangihoua Stream, leaving four survivors.
Solomon said the discovery reaffirmed Moriori oral histories.
“Our oral traditions tell us that the Rangihoua waka was wrecked on that spot some 700 or 800 years ago, and there were four survivors. I conveyed that to both ministers. I think this is important that they were there because summer is not far away and we really need to get into it this summer and get the rest of it out.”
Government support
Ministers, Potaka and Goldsmith were on the Chatham Islands for the signing of the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Treaty settlement. They also visited the Rangihoua excavation site.
The visit has raised hopes of government funding for the urgent and safe recovery of the waka.
Residents fear the remaining pieces could be washed away before they can be recovered, putting an important part of Moriori history at risk.
Solomon said excavating the waka in its entirety and recovering all its pieces would be a dream come true.
“I’ve often thought, sitting here and looking out to sea and thinking, wow, I wonder what it would’ve been like standing here when one of those first voyaging waka arrived.”
