Māhere Tū ki te Rangi

Te Rā, the only surviving customary Maaori sail, is held in the collection of the British Museum located in London.

Prior to visiting this taonga in person, Te Rā Ringa Raupā had not imagined the unmistakable mana Meaning Close Prestige, authority, importance, power that Te Rā emanated.

"The absolute exquisiteness of her tinana Meaning Close Body and her phenomenal presence took our breath away. We are forever changed by Te Rā, he taonga tawhito, he taonga puiaki, he taonga whakahirahira, (an ancient, precious and influential treasure)."

Making Hine Marama, a smaller version of Te Rā, introduced us all to the great complexities present in the body of the ancient sail. Everything we needed to learn, practice and master was contained in the creation of this first sail. Hine Marama took eighteen months to complete.

Our full-size recreation of Te Rā, Māhere Tū ki te Rangi, also revealed more understanding and insights into the ancient sail and its unique design features.

Even though Māhere Tū ki te Rangi is significantly larger than Hine Marama, he also took eighteen months to complete as the skills and techniques were now embedded in the adept members of Te Rā Ringa Raupā.

Of course, the purpose of a raa is to sail, so in 2024 Māhere Tū ki te Rangi was trialled on a twelve-metre waka Meaning Close Canoe in the Hokianga harbour. Alongside the lost art of weaving this ancient type of sail, is the lost art of rigging them and many adjustments were required.

Watching as Māhere Tū ki te Rangi captured Taawhirimaatea, our wind god, enabling the waka to glide effortlessly across the surface of his brother Tangaroa, god of the sea, was exciting stuff indeed.

This was an awesome example of harmoniously harnessing the elements as our tuupuna Meaning Close Ancestors

Also: Tūpuna, Tīpuna did.