The Kurahaupō canoe was one of the original migration canoes from Hawaiki in East Polynesia to Aotearoa. It completed its journey at Nukutaurua, on the Māhia Pensinula, where it is preserved as a reef.
Whātonga was the commander of the Kurahaupō canoe and his grandson was Rangitāne, the eponymous ancester of the Rangitāne tribe. The Rangitāne tribe occupied the Wairarapa and neighbouring districts, and came to share this area with closely related people from Ngāti Kahungunu who migrated to Wairarapa several generations afterwards.
As part of the 1990 celebrations, a new waka was constructed and named Kurahaupō by the tribes who descended from the original canoe, including Rangitāne. It is this Kurahaupō that is on display here.
Te waka Wairua o Kurahaupō is on display in the Aratoi courtyard.
Listen to and read the RNZ interview here.