After the successful construction of nine vaka and their traditional launching and blessing ceremony in February, vaka culture project Te Mana O Te Vaka is now moving on to phase three with a traditional fishing workshop to be held under the domes at the National Auditorium on Thursday, April 6.

Facilitated by the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) in partnership with the Cook Islands Voyaging Society and Vananga Tavioni, the workshop is open to all who wish to attend and will focus on traditional fishing knowledge and techniques.

The workshop will be run in two parts. From 8.30am to 2pm, school students from around Rarotonga will be given the opportunity to view a number of educational displays and learn about a variety of subjects, from vaka construction to traditional fishing methods. Later in the day, the main component of the workshop will take place from 4.30pm to 7.30pm in the

form of an iriirikapua, or knowledge-sharing discussion.

This session will feature interactive demonstrations by traditional fishermen, followed by a panel discussion related to topics ranging from environmental issues to traditional fishing techniques, including the use of fishing hooks, traps, nets, arāpō (moon phases) and ra'ui.

“This traditional fishing workshop is an extension of what we learnt with the vaka construction and launching,” says workshop project coordinator Mareta Monga from MMR.

“I was able to be a part of Te Mana O Te Vaka with weaving ara and making sennit, and it’s great to be involved in this phase too.

“Now our community has the opportunity to learn about how the vaka are used to fish and feed our people. I’m proud to be part of this project and I want to thank Pam Maru (MMR secretary) and my team from the Ministry of Marine Resources for the opportunity.”

Te Mana O Te Vaka is a collaborative project run by the Cook Islands Voyaging Society and Vananga Tavioni in an effort to revitalise the traditional life skills of our tupuna through the platform of Cook Islands vaka culture.

After this Thursday’s traditional fishing workshop, the next component of the project will be a traditional fishing competition running from April 13-15.

The Cook Islands Game Fishing Club are project partners for this upcoming competition, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the use of both traditional vaka and traditional fishing techniques.

“Meitaki ma’ata to all those who will be contributing to the workshop and participating. Meitaki to our ta’unga who will be sharing knowledge at the iriirikapua session. Meitaki to the Ministry of Marine Resources for coming onboard and helping spread understanding of the value of our indigenous knowledge and knowledge holders. Meitaki also to the Ministry of Cultural Development for their additional support.”

If you have any enquiries regarding the traditional fishing workshop, please contact Mareta Monga via email at M.Monga@mmr.gov.ck.