''Mana Waka'' is a 1990
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
film documenting the construction of
waka
Waka may refer to:
Culture and language
* Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand
** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe
** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe
** Waka taua, a Māori w ...
for the 1940 centenary of the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...
. It uses footage shot between 1937 and 1940 by R.G.H Manley, and edited 50 years later by
Annie Collins
Annie Collins is a film editor from New Zealand, best known for her work on ''The Return of the King''. She was a film conformer on ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', and moved up to assistant editor on ''The Two Towers''. Her work with Jamie Selk ...
and director
Merata Mita
Merata Mita (19 June 1942 – 31 May 2010) was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, and writer, and a key figure in the growth of the Māori screen industry.
Early life
Mita was born on 19 June 1942 in Maketu in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty. She ...
.
Original footage
In 1937, in anticipation of the 1940 centennial celebrations, Māori leader
Princess Te Puea commissioned seven
waka taua
Waka () are Māori people, Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes (''waka tīwai'') used for fishing and river travel to large, decorated war canoes (''waka taua'') up to long.
The earliest remains of a ...
(war canoes), in an attempt to recreate the legendary
seven canoes of the Māori migration, though only three were built due to funding shortages. Stills photographer R.G.H “Jim” Manley was asked to film the process, from the felling of massive trees to the maiden voyage. The filming also met financial hurdles and never entered post-production.
The waka named ''
Ngātokimatawhaorua
In Māori tradition, ''Ngātokimatawhaorua'' or Matawhaorua was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand.
Matawhaorua was the canoe of Kupe, the Polynesian discoverer of the islands ...
'' was ultimately launched on Waitangi Day, 6 February, 1940. It is launched every February and is housed at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The other two waka, ''Tumanako'' and ''Te Rangatahi'', are located at
Tūrangawaewae
Tūrangawaewae Marae is located in the town of Ngāruawāhia in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. A very significant marae, it is the headquarters for the Māori King Movement (''Te Kīngitanga'') and the official residence ...
and sail annually during the Tūrangawaewae Regatta.
Reconstruction
In 1983, the New Zealand Film Archive began restoring the footage. Merata Mita joined the project in August 1989, editing the film on location at Tūrangawaewae Marae so that the materials could be handled with traditional blessing practices, and to allow elders originally present in the 1930s to advise. As the original film was almost completely silent, the soundtrack was created from scratch based on the remembrances of these elders.
Disagreements between Mita and the family of R.G.H Manley over the direction of the film came to a head after an early workprint screening, when family members took the workprint from the projection booth. A period of mediation occurred afterwards, though contention over the ownership of the original footage persists.
''Mana Waka'' premiered at Auckland’s Civic Theatre on January 21, 1990. Its next public screening was twenty-one years later at the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival. It was one of fifteen films chosen by the New Zealand Film Archive in 1995 to represent the country’s most important cinematic heritage, in response to a UNESCO survey.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1990 films
New Zealand documentary films
Films about Māori people