Canoe (Waka)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 22 Dec 2017
name: label: Donor Name
content: Embassy of New Zealand
notes: label: Notes
content: A contemporary Maori canoe (waka) made from a totara (Podocarpus totara) tree by three master Maori carvers, Jacob Tautari, James Eruera, and James Rickard. The canoe was carved as part of "Tuku Iho / Living Legacy", an extended public program of Maori cultural arts and performances in Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center, National Museum of Natural History (July 22-30, 2017), and funded by the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI). The canoe was designed and created at New Zealand's national canoe school - Te Tapuwae o te Waka. The hull was made in New Zealand from a single 100-year old totara tree (a native New Zealand hardwood) sourced from a significant location and gifted by the landowners to the project. The hull was made over a period of three weeks and took three months to dry and ready for carving. The canoe sections were shipped to the United States, and the canoe's side strakes, bow and stern were then carved on-site in Q?rius, and all the parts of the canoe were fitted and lashed together and decorated. The carving on the canoe prow represents an early 20th century style that was most likely derived from a double hulled sailing vessel. The designs on the sides represent the ebb and flow of tides. See: "Maori carvers complete traditional canoe as gift to Smithsonian." 25 July 2017. Tourism New Zealand web site: https://media.newzealand.com/en/news/maori-canoe-at-the-heart-of-new-zealand-exhibition/.
label: Notes
content: The information below is from the Smithsonian Learning Lab collection module on the waka/canoe, "Tuia te here tangata waka | Binding the ties of humanity canoe", created by Anahera Hare, https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/tuia-te-here-tangata-waka-binding-the-ties-of-humanity-canoe/wTcC8RaTAGkYCKLv#r/ , retrieved 5 August 2021. The name of the waka is Tuia te here tangata meaning Binding the ties of humanity. It celebrates the connection established in 1840 between the US Exploring Expedition and Māori. The name and physical artifact hope to inspire understanding. Information from a 2020 conversation between Anahera Hare, James Eruera and curator Joshua A. Bell:The tōtara tree used to make the waka had fallen before being harvested in the spring of 2017. James Eruera transported the tree to the National Waka Building School, Te Tapuwae o te Waka. He used a chainsaw and adzes to shape the canoe. As James remarked further in the conversation – "The waka is made from a single tōtara tree and the tōtara tree is one of our prized trees that we use for canoe carving. It came from a farm owned by the Jack family of Pouerua. Pouerua is one of the sacred villages that our ancestors occupied in my area, in Te Tai Tokerau, the north of the North Island . ... Originally I was approached by Karl Johnston; he was working with the Smithsonian to work out how the Tuku Iho [A living legacy] exhibition would roll out in Washington, D.C. After he approached me I kind of agreed to build the waka and so therefore I had to try and find a tree." Through a friend, James located a family who possessed a tōtara. James relates "He said to the family, "Would you guys like to gift a tree to the Smithsonian? Eventually this tree will be carved into a canoe". Apparently they didn't hesitate and maybe a week later we were in the forest there to fell the tree." Reflecting further on the construction of the waka, James remarked "The longest part of carving the canoe was actually letting the timber dry, from the time the tree came down until the hull was shaped and it took about three weeks. ... The carving elements were actually shipped to Rotorua so that they could be carved by my colleages down there, and I just carried on. I think I finished the hull up here within another week. It actually came together really fast, but It had to because I didn't have very long until it had to get shipped." Once the tree had been leveled, the hull was cut out of the wood. Due to the size of the log, the hull was made from two distinct cuts. Once roughly shaped, the waka was sanded on the outside and an adze was used on the inside to make the distinctive marks that can be seen within. The hull was also painted with red paint. This is the modern equivalent to the traditional Red Ocher ... . Per James Eruera: "One of the guiding principles for carving the waka was about the old and the new and incorporating elements of our old traditions combined with our newer innovations. Māori use stone tools and modern power tools to build waka. The outside of the waka is a modern, sanded & smooth finish. The interior is a rough adze finish as a sign of homage to the old people." Weighing 500 pounds, the canoe and its carvings were shipped by container ship to Los Angeles and then by truck to the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center (MSC) in Suitland, Maryland in 2017. Once there all the boxes were examined to make sure everything arrived safely, and then repacked for their trip to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Once in Q?rius at the National Museum of Natural History, the team of James Eruera, James Rickard, Jacob Tuatara, Clive Fugil and Karl Johnston, as well as members of National Museum of Natural History staff and interns worked to assemble and paint the waka. James Eruera was the Master Carver for the project. Clive Fugill carved the rauawa (side struts), which have the raperape design on them. Raperape denotes swirling waters and figuratively symbolize the waka and its role to provide safe passage. James Rickard carved the taurapa (sternpost). Jacob Tautari carved the tauihu (canoe prow). James Rickard painted the white paint on the hull. Traditionally rope made from harakeke (New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax) would have been used to bind waka. The rauawa (side struts), the tauihu (canoe prow) and taurapa (stern post carving) were all bound to the new waka using nylon rope. James Eruera asked a range of NMNH staff such as anthropology curator Joshua A. Bell, and interns, to help bind the waka. A wooden dowel was used to secure the rope until it could be pulled tight through the next hole. The waka has a brace inside to help bind together the waka's two halves.
label: Notes
content: James Eruera commented: "The idea when we started carving the waka was to bring together as many of our practiced artists that we could, experts if you like. So the idea was to have myself as the canoe carving expert to build the hull but reach out to our other artists like James Rickard, [Clive Fugill, and] Jacob Tautari to have their input into the whakairo or the carving elements of the canoe. And then, kind of get it to Washington DC all in parts and then bring it together as part of the exhibition. So those are the people who more or less build the waka in its parts. And then there was everyone else who was part of the process from the tree to when we got to Washington DC. And then of course everyone else who contributed there including Josh [Bell], in terms of actually bringing the canoe together as one whole unit."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 17 Sep 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Washington, District Of Columbia, United States / New Zealand (Aotearoa), North America / Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Maori
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2081573
label: USNM Number
content: E436140-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Canoe
physicalDescription: label: Length - Canoe
content: ca. 566 cm
label: Width - Canoe
content: ca. 41 cm
label: Weight - Canoe
content: ca. 226.8 kg
label: Depth - Canoe
content: 41.9 cm
label: Maximum Length - Canoe
content: 6 m
label: Minimum Depth - Canoe
content: 34.3 cm
label: Maximum Height - Canoe
content: 81 cm