Model: Tongiaki, double canoe, Tonga, 1993
Maker
Fehoko, Tuione
Production date
1993: engraved on surface by maker
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Object detail
These vessels were up to about 21 metres long (70 feet) and could carry up to 150 passengers. They were in use until the late eighteenth century, when Tongan navigators adapted the double-hulled kalia from the Fijian drua.
The tongiaki's two hulls were of equal size and were bridged by a raised, planked deck.
The tongiaki was rigged with an Oceanic lateen sail and did not reverse direction when going about.
The vessels in which the Polynesian ancestors of the Māori came to Aotearoa were probably of a similar type.
Diameter (mm): 650mm (2 1/8ft): d - canoe
Height (mm): 1600mm (5 1/4ft): d - canoe
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