Ko ngā kaumātua e kaha nei ki te hāpai i ngā toi Māori ngā kaiwhiwhi tohu i Ngā Taonga a Te Waka Toi i tū ki Te Whanganui ā Tara i te marama o Hereturikōkā.

Ko Te Uruhina MacGarvey rātou ko Mary Broughton, Wiremu Tawhai, Whero o te Rangi Bailey, Kukupa Tirikatene, ko Te Wharehuia Milroy, ko Witi Ihimaera ngā kaumātua i whakanuia mō ā rātou mahi rangatira ki te tautoko i ngā mahi toi me te hāpai i ngā tikanga Māori.

E ai ki te manukura o Te Waka Toi a Darrin Haimona, he mea whakaharahara ēnei tohu ki te whakanui i te hunga mahi toi kei roto i o tātou ake whārua, kei te motu whānui, kei tāwāhi rānei.

Hei tāna anō, ko ēnei tohu e whakanui ana i te hunga e ngākaunui ana ki te pupuri, ki te ako kia tipu ai ngā toi Māori me ōna tikanga. Kei te rārangi ināianei a Witi Ihimaera o ngā tohunga nui kua whakawhiwhia ki te Tohu Tiketike a Te Waka Toi pērā me Tā Howard Morrison rāua ko Kahurangi Iritana Tawhiwhirangi.

Ko ēnei ngā tohu noa iho o te motu e whakanui ana i ngā toi me ngā tikanga a ngāi tātou.

Hei tā te kaiwhiwhi i te Tohu Toi Kē a Merata Mita, “ka mihi au ki Te Waka Toi mo tēnei pō whakaharahara e taea ai e tātou te iwi Māori te whakanui. Koinei te tohu tuatahi kua whakawhiwhia nei ki ahau i Aotearoa nei.”

I tukuna he wāhanga whakamaumaharatanga ki ngā mate o te tau ki a Pakariki Harrison rāua ko Diggeress Te Kanawa. I reira hoki ō rātou whānau ki te tautoko i te pō. I whakaaturia ngā mahi rangatira a te tokorua nei, arā, ngā kākahu nā Diggeress i whatu mā ana tamariki, me ngā pikitia mō ngā wharenui i whakairotia e Pakariki.

Ko Ngā Hua

• Te Tohu Tiketike a Te Waka Toi
• Witi Ihimaera (Te Aitanga ā Mahaki)
• Ngā Tohu a Tā Kingi Ihaka
• Te Uruhina McGarvey (Tūhoe)
• Mary Mereiwa Broughton (Te Atiawa, Ngātiawa)
• Wiremu Karuwha Tawhai (Te Whānau a Apanui, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa)
• Whero o te Rangi Bailey (Taranaki tuturu, Te Ātiawa nui tonu)
• Kukupa Tirikatene (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha me Ngāti Pahauwera o Te Roopu Tūhonohono o Kahungunu)
• Te Tohu Aroha mo Ngoingoi Kumeroa Pewhairangi
• Te Wharehuia Milroy (Tūhoe)
• Te Tohu Toi Kē
• Merata Mita (Ngāti Pikiao me Ngāiterangi)

Ngā Karahipi a Te Waka Toi:

• Shannon Te Ao (Ngāti Tuwharetoa)
• Challen Wilson (Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Koata, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Marutuaahu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa)
• Kylie Tiuka (Tūhoe)