Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi Busby, MBE Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi Busby, Te Rarawa/Ngati Kahu, is recognised in Aotearoa-New Zealand and across the Pacific as a leader of the revival of ocean voyaging and navigation using traditional Polynesian double hull canoes and wayfinding methods. In 1991/2 he built the waka hourua Te Aurere which has now sailed over 30,000 nautical miles visiting Hawai’i, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island. Hekenukumai was born at home at Pukepoto near Kaitaia on the 1st August 1932. He went to the local Native School where one of the highlights was visits to Waitangi. There he would sit and commune with the waka taua Ngatokimatawhaorua and wonder if he would ever see a waka like that in the water. Little did he know then that in 1973, in response to an initiative of Prime Minister Norman Kirk who wanted to change Waitangi Day to New Zealand Day, he would play a central role in re-launching Ngatokimatawhaorua for the 1974 celebrations. A turning point came in 1984 when the navigator of Hokule’a a replica of a traditional Hawai’ian canoe, Nainoa Thompson visited Hekenukumai prior to voyaging to Aotearoa in 1985. Hekenukumai told Nainoa that “In this land, we still have our canoe buried. In this land, we still have our language and we trace our genealogies back to the canoes our ancestors arrived on. But we have lost our pride and the dignity of our traditions. If you are going to bring Hokule’a here, that will help bring it back.” During the visit of Hokule’a to Waitangi Sir James Henare expressed the hope that a waka from Aotearoa would make the return trip to central Polynesia. It was Hekenukumai who took up the challenge to build that waka and sail it to Rarotonga. The New Zealand Commemoration Medal in 1990 and an MBE in 1994 for services to Maori are part of the recog- nition Hekenukumai has received for what he has contributed to the revival of waka, a central part of Maori culture, and the many other contributions he has made though local, regional, and national organisations. TE AURERE - SAILING THE PACIFIC SINCE 1992 Active involvment in community affairs Hekenukumai has a long and distinguished record of active involvement in community affairs in the North and nation- ally since his first participation in the Te Rarawa Executive in the 1950s and 1960s, when he also served four terms as chairman of the Ahipara Primary School and on the Ahipara Maori Committee. Some of his activities include: 1969-Current Member of the Taitokerau District Maori Council 1969-Current Member of Taitokerau District Maori Council Claims Komiti 1972-Current Member and more latterly kaumatua of Te Rarawa Maori Committee Runanga o Te Rarawa & Ngati Kahu Trust Board & Te Runanga o Muriwhenua 1974-Current Member, Waitangi Day Commemorations Committee 1976-2000 Taitokerau Representative, Aotearoa National Arts Festival Committee 1976-Current Honorary member, Maori Women’s Welfare League 1980-2000 Chairperson, Waitangi Cultural Committee 1982-Current Member, Te Kohanga Reo 1984-Current Member, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Hawai’i 1986-Current Foundation member, Department of Conservation – Te Pataka O Taitokerau Komiti 1987-1990 Kaumatua, Te Uri o Hina Marae Committee 1989-Current Delegate to the NZ Maori Council 1990-Current Member, Nga Waka Federation 1988-Current Tohunga, Te Taitokerau Tarai Waka Inc. 1999-Current Member, Te Taitokerau Maori Tourism Association 2002-Current Life Member, Aotearoa National Arts Festival Committee Hekenukumai has also had significant involvement with many other organisations including Te Papa Tongarewa (since 1996), the Waitangi National Trust Board (since 1974), Te Runanga o Whaingaroa, and Te Roopu o Whakapiringa. TE AURERE - SAILING THE PACIFIC SINCE 1992.