Waka

Waka & rivers

Waka are canoes that ranged from basic 1 or 2 man craft to giant waterborne war machines. They also acted as a sort of "spiritual medium," as rivers were treated as sacred, protected by God or Te Atua, and were very respected in any Maori community. As a result of Te Atua's influence, each river had many holy or sacred qualities that made them very dangerous to operate on without proper respect and honour given. Each river (or awa) had it's own Mauri or life giving properties, Mana or spiritual power and authority, Tapu or restrictions on some part of anything by a priest or tohunga e.g. certain parts of a plant or animal (women were also Tapu, meaning you were cursed if you killed them). Failure to respect tapu (intentionally or unintentionally) results in trouble, sickness, or even death and the help of a tohunga or ritual expert is required. There were certain degrees of tapu and tapu was either temporary (in the case of a rahui) or permanent tapu. Tapu could be uplifted through the process of whakanoa (to make common).

source of info: http://www.seakeepers-nz.com/RIVERS/rivermori.html