Source: Eastern Institute of Technology
4 minutes ago
Xenon Messenger stands by Te Matau-a-Māui waka in Ahuriri
Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tuohu koe me he maunga teitei. Shoot for the stars and you might hit the moon.
Final-year, level seven te reo Māori student Xenon Messenger has joined the crew of Te Matau-a-Māui for Te Hokinga, a six-to-eight-week voyage retracing ancestral pathways to Samoa and Fiji.
The first te reo speaker in his whānau in four generations, Xenon Messenger (Ngāti Whātua) was looking for an avenue to kōrero Māori. After studying in Te Whanganui-a-Tara he went searching for somewhere to build on his level four te reo, and found Te Ūranga Waka at EIT, the only place in Aotearoa offering the kaupapa Māori he was after, with electives in Māori carving, history and belief systems. He moved to Te Matau-a-Māui and fell in love with what he found.
Now 23, Xenon is in his final year of a level seven bachelor’s degree in te reo Māori, and pāpā to a two-year-old tama with another pēpi on the way. Deciding that juggling study and parenting wasn’t challenging enough, he’s joined the crew of Te Matau-a-Māui waka for Te Hokinga (the return) – a six-to-eight-week voyage retracing ancestral pathways to Samoa, Fiji and back.
“Part of the amazing thing about learning this knowledge, and the point of this journey, is bringing these traditional names and stories back home so we can share them with our people.” – Xenon Messenger
Te Hokinga is about more than traditional navigation. The crew are retracing the journey back to where the original waka Tākitimu was built, in Samoa and Fiji, reconnecting with the places, people and mātauranga they share whakapapa with. The hope is to hear kōrero tuku iho, the stories and traditions handed down, from other rangatira and nations sharing their own Tākitimu kōrero. For safety, only the captain has access to GPS or the time; the rest of the crew hand in their phones, watches and anything else that would let them fall back on modern technology.
With no previous sailing experience, Xenon started training 18 months ago. “The training has mainly been making sure I’m sharp on all my knots, setting up and taking down the sails, and knowing what to do if we need to perform a manoeuvre like a tack or a gybe, or reef the sails to make them smaller.”
With such a small crew, safety was a big part of the wānanga. Xenon spent a whole weekend jumping into the water in wet weather gear, inflating life rafts and learning what the different flares mean.
“I knew if I wanted to do it, I needed to work hard, because you’re not just going to be put on the waka and potentially put other people at risk.” – Xenon Messenger
Xenon and the crew of Te Matau-a-Māui waka, have a moment before embarking on Te Hokinga to Samoa and Fiji.
The crew are split into three watches, with crew reporting to a watch captain, who reports to the captains or navigators.
“You’re on a four-hour shift and then eight hours off, so the waka is manned 24/7. Down time you might spend eating, sleeping, fishing or washing your kākahu. The navigators basically don’t sleep. They might go down for a 30-minute power nap a day, but other than that they need to be on deck, in tune with what’s going on at all times.”
Xenon has no expectations beyond being part of it, though one day he’d love to gain his skipper’s license and to navigate a traditional waka journey. “People have asked me if I’m afraid, what I’m thinking, but I’m just trying to take it day by day.”
Where would he love to navigate next? Up through Raiatea and Tahiti. His research points to strong evidence connecting our waka whakapapa to that part of the Pacific, and from what he’s heard, you can feel it when you get there.
“When I started studying at EIT, I quickly realised that it wasn’t just te reo Māori I wanted to study. There are so many aspects to te ao Māori, and this is another one. It’s a different language on the waka, you hear kupu you wouldn’t hear in daily conversation. But you also go overseas and listen to other indigenous languages. We’ve talked about formal and informal settings in Fiji, and I’m discovering the connections between our whakapapa and language. I’d love to be able to pass the knowledge on to my kids.”
Xenon graduates at the end of 2026 and plans to follow it with a postgrad in teaching. “I like the idea of exploring other opportunities outside of just reo, mahi raranga, carving, mahi toi like the tukutuku panels, sailing, waka ama. There’s a lot of things that encompass te ao Māori.”
Follow Xenon’s journey on the Te Matau-a-Māui Facebook page. The waka has Starlink on board, so the crew can run Zoom calls with classrooms and share updates with whānau back home.
We wish everyone on board safe passage.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/14/from-te-uranga-waka-to-the-open-ocean/