Te Kawau waka puts Māori culture centre stage at America’s Cup

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s waka taua, Te Kawau, at the America’s Cup in Barcelona. Photo / Emirates Team New Zealand / Facebook
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s waka taua, Te Kawau, is proving a show stopper at the America’s Cup in Barcelona, wowing crowds and bringing Team New Zealand to tears.
“Emirates Team New Zealand crew have been in tears at dock out. In tears when we did mihi to Te Kawau. In tears when they see our kapa perform,” Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) told Te Ao Māori News today from Spain.
“That says they miss home and the point of difference we as Aotearoa have in this competition.”
Launched at Ōkahu Bay in June and transported to Spain in August, Te Kawau is providing the Kiwi crew with a guard of honour for each day’s racing, leading Team New Zealand out of the harbour to meet the challenge of Great Britain’s Ineos Britannia.
“The international crowd is in awe of how we are here to support Emirates Team New Zealand in a very Māori way,” says Tipene, the waka’s coordinator.
With an estimated audience of up to 1.5 billion viewers worldwide, Tipene says Māori are “globally hot” while at home it was a different story, “we’re locally not”.
“Cameras are all out. Everyone wants a photo. Everyone wants to see the haka and kapa haka. Everyone lines the shore to watch the dock out.
“The crowd is hyped and people can’t get enough of it.”
Ata mārie. Ngāti Whātu Ōrākei launched their new waka, Te Kawau, this morning from Okahu Bay.

Taken from the comms:

“The launch of our waka will be a significant and beautiful event for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and we encourage as many of our whānau to join us in marking this momentous occasion.

As this is a significant project and investment for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, we also engaged a production house to document the journey and today we share with our whānau, a sneak peak. The doco series will be presented as six 10 minute videos. We can’t wait to see the final product and to share with you all. View our preview story here: https://bit.ly/4a98SKH”.

It was certainly a special and moving sight, seeing it launched and taken out in the bay. Ka rawe!
The high points of this experience are unmatched, says Tipene, a leading tā moko artist.
“Highlight so far, up to 60 uri representing their tūpuna on a global scale. I told the concierge at dinner that we’re all one family and they couldn’t believe it.
“Milestones are: two whānau are three generations deep. Four sets of father/son. Three mataora, six kauae.
“Watching our rangatahi see the world to truly understand their love for home.”
Originally ahead 4-0, Team New Zealand’s lead over Britannia was cut to 4-2.
But Te Kawau and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, which have been iwi manaaki for Team New Zealand for several years, remain focused.
“Te Kawau is definitely the show stealer and is the Ngāti Whātua delegation kaupapa matua,” Tipene said.
“It’s an understanding of Emirates Team New Zealand and te ao Māori/Whātua perspective on mana moana and kaitiaki moana.
“The crew are tight.”