Tauranga Moana’s Te Awanui waka (canoe) was portrayed as it appeared when it was paddled up the Uretara River to take part in the 1975 Centennial celebrations of Katikati’s European settlement. It returned in April 1991 to take part in the Serendipity Festival at which the first three murals were dedicated.
The paddlers and the Maori warriors on shore carry the moko (tattoo) of the local Ngai Te Rangi people painted careful attention to every detail by Malcolm Pitkeathly, he is head of the art department at Katikati College and was assisted with the painting by some of his students.
The mural was painted on seven panels. permission for the waka to be re-created on the mural had to be first obtained from Te Awanui’s master carver, Tuti Tukaokao. Local Maori elders led the ceremony of dedication and unveiling in August 1991.This artwork has now been retired.
