siblings Rapihana Hawaikirangi and Te P\u014d Hawaikirangi-Willison <\/a>as traditional celestial navigators for Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu.<\/p>\n![\"Ocean-going]()
Ocean-going waka Te Matau a M\u0101ui at the new moorings near Pandora Bridge and Napier Sailing Club, prior to the August 31 Spring Equinox South Pacific, from which it is expected home in Ahuriri this week.<\/p>\n
Under the guidance and mentorship of traditional celestial navigator Piripi Smith, they completed their training\u2019s graduation requirements during the voyage, marking an important milestone in the continuation of ancestral Pacific navigation, using only the stars.<\/p>\n
Their achievement represents the successful transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next, ensuring the traditions of wayfinding by the stars, ocean swells, winds and the natural world continue to thrive.<\/p>\n
Beyond the sailing itself, Te Hokinga Takitimu strengthened cultural connections between Aotearoa, Samoa and Fiji, reinforcing centuries-old relationships that continue to unite Pacific peoples today.<\/p>\n
This voyage has celebrated shared ancestry, cultural exchange and the revitalisation of traditional voyaging knowledge while inspiring future generations of navigators.<\/p>\n
As part of the return voyage for the first leg from Ahuriri to Samoa, te waka Te Matau a M\u0101ui had one crew member from Fa\u2019afaite i te ao Maohi Va\u2019a.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The crew get ready to set foot on land in Fiji. Photo \/ \u0100tea a Rangi Educational Trust<\/p>\n
From Samoa to Fiji and Fiji to Ahuriri there are three crew members from Fiji, who are part of the sailing vaka Uto ni Yalo, and one crew member from Samoa, who is part of the Gaulofa Va\u2019a from the Samoan Voyaging Society return voyage.<\/p>\n
While about 30 crew have been involved in the interchange, four have sailed the entire journey, Smith said.<\/p>\n
It was self-funded from trust resources and crew contributions, including funding air travel to or from the stops.<\/p>\n
Te Hokinga Takitimu (\u201cThe Return\u201d) honours the ancestral voyaging pathways of the great waka Takitimu, reconnecting the descendants and enduring relationships shared by Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu and many iwi throughout Aotearoa and the Pacific.<\/p>\n
The waka hourua is owned by Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated and operated by the \u0100tea a Rangi Educational Trust. It was launched in 2011.<\/p>\n
In 2028, the voyage will continue and include the Cook Islands and the Tahitian Islands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updates on the arrival time will be shared through the \u0100tea a Rangi Educational Trust social media channels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[74,79563,665,9218,311755,156,5346,1976,1345,6721,685,26981,210304,3234,123896,97679,43368,111,139,69,311754,90,2847,13572,1240,5436,223,61,19137,223209,810,3382,66014,49756,4767],"class_list":["post-636023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-after","tag-ahuriri","tag-around","tag-before","tag-bythestars","tag-entertainment","tag-expected","tag-hawkes","tag-home","tag-labour","tag-last","tag-leg","tag-matau","tag-months","tag-mui","tag-navigating","tag-navigation","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oceangoing","tag-on","tag-only","tag-pacific","tag-south","tag-stars","tag-the","tag-to","tag-traditional","tag-twoandahalf","tag-up","tag-using","tag-voyaging","tag-waka","tag-weekend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}