Te Toki Voyaging Trust
THE WAY OF THE WATER
As the captain of the Haunui waka, an oceangoing canoe, Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr embarked on a global mission alongside other Māori tribal leaders and Indigenous representatives to engage in meaningful discussions about the importance of water, and advocate for its responsible stewardship.
When Hoturoa co-founded Te Toki Voyaging Trust over 30 years ago, he hoped to revive the knowledge and practices of traditional waka sailing to create a deep appreciation for precious resources among young minds. The trust has since expanded and now brings mātauranga waka (canoe knowledge) back to life through educational programmes for young people. One of the trust’s recent endeavours is Kura Waitī, an educational program designed to reconnect uri (descendants) to their ancestral Waikato river through the practice of mātauranga waka, river care, and learning about the unique river ecosystem. Te Toki Voyaging Trust aims to expand their programme to mainstream schools in future.
