The waka hourua community is ecstatic following a $1.7 million funding boost to strengthen matauranga or knowledge in traditional celestial navigation.
The announcement was made by the Prime Minister at Waitangi.
The doubled hulled canoes carried many Maori across the Pacific to the shores of Aotearoa more than seven centuries ago.
One of the country's most renowned waka navigators, Jack Thatcher, told RNZ reporter Te Aniwa Hurihanganui the funding boost is going to allow even more people to learn about this important part of our country's heritage.
