Kua ū atu he kāhui waka o Te Moananui ki te ākau o Tūranganui-a-Kiwa hei whakanui i a Tuia250. E toru ngā waka o te kāhui waka hourua nei, ko Haunui, rātou ko Ngahiraka mai Tawhiti me Fa'afaite i ahu mai i te motu o Tahiti, i tere mai i tua o ngā pae moana. No te rangi nei pōwhiritia rā ēnei waka me ana kaitaurima, me ana kaumoana e te manawhenua o taua rohe.
Ko tā kōkā Charlotte Gibson o Ngāti Oneone, “Tēnei rā mō ngā iwi taketake o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, ki te whakanui i wā mātau kōrero, tikanga, e pā ana ki te wai, te moana, ki a Kupe, ki a Māui, ki a Paikea. Ahakoa wērā atu kaupapa waiho ki te taha, tēnei, he mea whakanui i a tātau.”
He tuitui ahurea, he tūhono tāngata atu i ngā tōpito o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, hei tauira mā Aotearoa whānui.
Hei tā Taharakau Stewart o Rongowhakaata, “Ki te whakanui i tēnei kaupapa, kaua rā ko Kuki, engari ko tātau, kia tuituia i a tātau tonu i ngā kōrero o nehe, ngā kōrero i tuku mai i a rātau, kia mōhio ai tātau, kia pai tā tātau anga whakamua.”
Ko te tūāpapa o ngā mahi whakamahara nei ko te taenga atu a Kāpene Kuki me te Endeavour, engari ināianei kua hau atu te Māori ki ngā kōrero, kia panonitia, kia Māori ake ai.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, also Minister for Culture and Heritage says that, “There have been commemorations before but this is really the first time that we have the story of Māori navigational history, and that's the part that I would really love to make sure that our rangatahi and our tamariki are seeing those waka coming in and learning about the celestial navigation of their ancestors.”
Hei tā te Minita whakahaere i a Tuia hei tā Kelvin Davis, “E tika ana ngā kōrero o tērā taha he rangi tēnei mō Aotearoa whānui, Ngāi Pākehā mā, Ngāi Māori mā, Ngāi Pōrihinīhia mā, nā reira e tika ana wērā kōrero he rangi tino ataahua tēnei.”
Ko ngā waka e toru ko Haunui Waka, ko Ngāhiraka Mai Tawhiti, ko Fa'afaite tērā o Tahiti Nui, arā he ope nui kua tau mai.
Hei tā Taharakau Stewart, “Te ūnga mai o ngā waka o tāwāhi, o Tahiti Nui, Tahiti Roa, Tahiti Pāmamao, kātahi anō kua whakaeke nei ki runga i te marae nei, kia tūhonohono anō tātau, koira pea te kōrero a Hoturua i a ia e takahi ana i ngā ngaru nui, ngaru iti, kia kohikohi te iwi Māori nei kia tae mai ia ki konei.”
Ko tā Charlotte Gibson, “Taku reanga, me whakapono ngā kōrero ki ngā tamariki mokopuna, mēnā kāre i te whakapono, ka ahatia tātau? Me whakapono ngā kōrero kia kite i ngā mokopuna te tauira.”
Hei te wiki e tū mai nei tere atu ai ngā waka e toru ki Uawa.