- Aotea (canoe)
Infobox waka
waka_name =Aotea
commander =Turi
priest =
departed =
landed =Aotea Harbour
iwi =Ngāti Ruanui
settled =TaranakiIn Māori tradition, Aotea is one of the canoes by which Māori migrated toNew Zealand ; it is particularly associated with the tribes of Taranaki and Whanganui, includingNgāti Ruanui and other tribal groups. Aotea was a double canoe built by Toto from half of a great tree from Hawaiki, the other half being used for the canoeMatahourua . Toto gave Aotea to his daughter Rongorongo, who was married to Turi. In strife with the chiefUenuku , Turi killed the chief's son and thereafter had to flee for New Zealand with 33 passengers. During the voyage, they stopped at Rangitahua [Rangitahua has been identified by some as Raoul Island in theKermadec Islands , but Tregear is probably right when he says 'this island cannot now be identified' (Tregear 1891:57) since it is implausible to believe that the Māori could have had any knowledge of the Kermadecs prior to European contact.] and encountered some of the crew from theKurahaupō canoe (Craig 1989:24). The Aotea canoe arrived atAotea Harbour on the west coast of theNorth Island , and its people eventually settled in the Taranaki region.References
*R.D. Craig, "Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology" (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989).
ee also
*
List of Māori waka
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