Waka (canoe) - Ocean-going Canoes

Ocean-going Canoes

See also Māori migration canoes

Ocean-going waka, whatever their size, could be paddled but achieved their best speeds when propelled by sail. The Polynesian settlers of New Zealand migrated to New Zealand in large waka; some of these were possiblywaka hourua according to legend, double-hulled vessels. The names and stories associated with those waka were passed on in oral history (kōrero o mua) but dates names times and routes are frequently muddled and confused as the descendants of the settlers multiplied and separated into iwi (tribes) and hapu (sub-tribes). Consequently the word waka is used to denote a confederation of iwi descended from the people of one migratory canoe.

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