Haere mai! Haere mai! Haere mai! Welcome!

Katoro Waka Heritage Journeys is the South Pacific’s gateway to the world of the South Island Maori waka (canoe) journeys, natural wildlife, and friendly Maori cultural performances; we are your one stop cultural destination for all things Maori when visiting the South Island New Zealand.

Whakapapa or descent is the mental structure that allowed Ngai Tahu (south island) Maori to understand and interact with the landscape, wildlife, ancestral homeland and most importantly our Atua (gods).

For Ngai Tahu (south island) Maori, whakapapa was the principle from which order and chaos were to be understood. Whakapapa (descent) placed order upon space and time, it was the binding agent between opposites and connects the living and the dead, Atua (gods) with humankind and the intangible with the tangible.

Therefore if whakapapa was the backbone, oral traditions, chants, and other arts could attach themselves as the flesh to the skeletal structure of genealogy, thus the Earth (papatuanuku) and sky (raki) were understood as the original parents of humankind, with the sea, flora fauna and other elements of the natural world connected by a web of kinship.

The Canterbury plains, the forest and birdlife were understood as the descendants of Tane creator of all life, who was in turn the son of (raki) the sky father and papatuanuku) earth mother.

Katoro Maori Heritage Journeys will be your guide into the past of our ancient south island Maori.  Let us share our stories with you when you visit Christchurch. Our story-tellers will share our rich history that will include a visit to an historical Maori site, a Maori waka (canoe) journey located on a traditional Maori hunting site, a wildlife sanctuary and Maori village complete with a cultural performance. Please continue on through our site and feel free to send us an email via our booking engine.

We hope to see you soon, ka kite,

Katoro.