Māori navigators to play pivotal role in commemorations of Captain Cook's 1769 Poverty Bay landing

July 24, 2019

One leading waka captain says it’s a chance to tell the history of the encounters.

Māori navigators will be central to commemorations for Captain Cook’s Poverty Bay landing in 1769.

It's officially called Tuia - Encounters 250, and one leading waka captain says it's a chance to tell the history of the encounters.

Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, a waka Haunui captain will be a central part of Tuia 250, travelling up and down the country on double-hulls sharing cultural traditions.

"You know the knowledge that it took to get people here a thousand years ago, it's part of what I think every New Zealander should be happy to listen to," he says.

It's the commemoration of both Captain James Cook's landing in 1769 and the epic journeys that migratory waka chartered to Aotearoa.

Dame Jenny Shipley, one of the organisers, hopes her grandchildren get a deeper understanding of our shared history.

"Now we need to see that every child has a balanced story line and we can walk in the shoes of Kupe and Cook," she says.

However, not everyone is happy about vessels sailing into the Bay for commemorations.

Sina Brown-Davis has started a petition to stop the replica Endeavour sailing to New Zealand from Sydney.

She says it's a celebration of imperialism.

"We are planning to have protests at every site that that death ship visits," she says. 

But Mr Barclay-Kerr says that approach "turns people off".

He wants to focus on the courage waves of migrants have had to arrive here, starting with Māori.

"So just to be able to come here and then figure out how you're going to survive .... it's a type of migration to face unknown challenges."

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