Waka Maumahara to Honour Māori Pioneer Battalion in France

A delegation from the French city of Arras visited Rotorua on Friday to witness the progress of a significant new monument: a waka maumahara destined for the Carrière Wellington museum. According to RNZ, the waka is being crafted by carvers at Te Puia, the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, to honour the members of the Māori Pioneer Battalion who served in the region during the First World War. The project holds deep personal significance for the carvers, including 22-year-old Tiaan Greig. He told RNZ that he is a descendant of John Huani Ruha, a soldier who worked on the Arras tunnels at the same age Greig is now. The waka’s design is inclusive, incorporating specific tribal styles from the iwi of all 43 Māori Pioneer Battalion members who served with the New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company in France. General manager of the New Zealand Arts and Crafts Institute, Eraia Kiel, noted that the waka is currently about halfway finished. It is scheduled to be shipped to Arras for an unveiling next year. Kiel expressed that it was humbling to see people from the other side of the world reach out to acknowledge the courageous feats and mana of their ancestors. Historian Chris Pugsley noted that while the New Zealanders arrived with little experience in war tunnelling, they quickly adapted to create a vast underground network capable of housing 24,000 soldiers. Arras mayor Frédéric Leturque, who visited the school in Rotorua, emphasised the importance of the monument in representing Māori tradition and the specific legacy of the soldiers within the French city. The waka will serve as a permanent binding between the two nations, ensuring the sacrifices made by the battalion in the 1917 offensive are never forgotten.