Hekenukumai Busby

The biography of esteemed Te Rarawa elder and tohunga tarai waka (master canoe builder) and celestial navigator Hec Busby. Hec remains one of the few active waka taua builders and he is responsible for the completion of more than a dozen waka taua (war canoes) for iwi around Aoteraora New Zealand. He is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent holder of lore relating to many aspects of waka culture and is often consulted for his expert opinion. His navigation knowledge, initially learnt directly from Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson of the Polynesian Voyaging Society (Hawaii based) and internationally renowned master navigator Mau Piailug from Satawal, Micronesia, has since been passed on to the next generation of navigators through an ongoing series of wananga.