Voyaging Waka Recount

The Voyaging Waka Journey

Have you ever wondered how overwhelming guiding 12 people is? As the  captain of a voyaging waka I guarded 12 lives, making sure they were safe at all times.  All passengers were    prepared for this long journey and were all ready to head off to find new land.  That week  everyone was tired and frustrated .   Storing and packing the food was difficult.  Live animals were  challenging to take aboard because of the fight they put up against the strong men. 1/3 of the Raven tribe had decided to travel in search of new land, because of the overgrowing population.  We had to sacrifice our life to make and set a good example for their kids. We all missed them a lot but, they made a commitment to set sail for another environment for us. The fears we faced was starvation, and not knowing where we were. We all were looking  forward to leading a better life.  All of the responsibility  realise on your shoulder.

It was amazing as  we  were leaving  our  Island because I thought it wouldn’t be hard to say goodbye, But sadly It was really hard to say goodbye to our family and friends,  because they have been there for  us  since we stepped foot onto this land.  As we got into the voyaging vaka  we  said goodbye to  our families because we thought that we would never see them again. As we were leaving they were giving us a traditional farewell with traditional  music and dancers.  As we walked onto the waka  our captain was  leading us through the stars  as we were travelling.

As strange as it may seem, us  Maori people had to keep our food source with us so we  wouldn’t starve to death. On the Voyaging waka we didn’t  have fridges to keep  our food source fresh so we used the water as our fridge’s. Sometimes live fish were kept in bamboo cages tied to the side of the boat.  Sometimes fish were caught but at the same time sometimes they weren’t. We  took  Live dogs, pigs and poultry.  We put fish and Shellfish on the roof of the waka to dry out the fish. We also took with us coconuts, They would be helpful for a variety of things like: Coconut milk For drinking, Coconut meat for food flavouring, Coconut fibre for making ropes and toilet paper and Coconut Shells (dried) for wood on the cooking fire.  Green Coconuts were kept in cool  storage or in the water because coconuts can go off fast in the heat.   We also took fruit and vegetables with us. The fruit we took were: Breadfruit, Bananas and many other fruits. Fruits were sometimes sun dried on racks.The vegetables we took were: Taro, Yams, Sweet Potatoes (Kumara) and many other vegetables. The smell of the fresh food could make us all fall to the ground.

Do  you know how hard it is to take care  of   12 people  because it is  the same as taking care of yourself?  Living on Voyaging Waka for about  two to three weeks  is hard. I had to take care of my siblings so that they are safe . It would be my responsibility to take   care of them especially if  my family was  living on a Waka.  My family and I were traveling to a far place on the Pacific Ocean.  It was really  extremely impressive that our family survived on this scary, long ride.  Being a passenger on our Waka is pretty scary because going thru waves, seeing big storms heading our way.Thats why it’s important that I keep my family safe on a Voyaging Waka.

I knew that everyone was terrified because they thought that they weren't  going to make it to their new home . As soon as they saw the land they were glad to know that they made it back to their new  home, that they could call New Zealand.   If we could make the Voyaging Waka different it would be a cage that would hold all of the animals. so they didn’t drown were coming back home.  

We all felt relieved because we made it to our new homes. Everybody on the boat including me, was cheering and jumping on the boat. As we were heading to shore we were doing our traditional maori dance.  I also felt horrible that  had to leave my siblings but at the end of the day I had to find new land for us.