Sir Hekenukumai Ngāiwi Puhipi Busby was a highly esteemed New Zealand Māori navigator and traditional waka (canoe) builder, born in 1932 in Pukepoto, New Zealand, and passed away in 2019. Recognized for his pivotal role in the revival of traditional Pacific navigation techniques, Sir Hekenukumai was a key figure in rekindling the art of wayfinding that allowed Pacific Navigators to traverse vast distances of the Pacific Ocean long before the arrival of Europeans.
Sir Hekenukumai Ngāiwi Puhipi Busby’s dedication to the craft led him to Micronesian master navigator Mau Piailug, who was instrumental in the Pacific Renaissance of celestial navigation without using modern instruments. This extraordinary collaboration deeply influenced his work and vision, driving him to build waka hourua (double-hulled canoes) and to navigate these using ancestral knowledge and the stars, winds, waves, and wildlife as guides.
I met Sir Hekenukumai Busby in 2009 when I organised “Mata Ora 2009 – a Polynesian Navigation Festival” with support from Unesco New Zealand. Other participants included Pwo Navigator Jack Thatcher, Hoturoa Barcklay-Kerr, Stanley Conrad, and Pauline Harris, the first Māori astrophysicist.
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Featured photo: Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi Busby MBE, Te Rarawa/Ngati Kahu; Dr Andrew Matthews, UNESCO; Frank Andrews and Gordon Hudson.
In 1993, Sir Hekenukumai Ngāiwi Puhipi Busby was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in 2014, he was knighted, receiving the Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Māori. His efforts preserved an important part of Polynesian culture and instilled a sense of pride and identity among the Māori people.
Sir Hekenukumai Busby’s legacy includes numerous voyages that reconnected the islands of the Pacific, using the stars as his ancestors did. His work has been celebrated nationally and internationally, making him a revered figure in traditional navigation and cultural preservation.
In his honour, Māori navigators remember the star Shaula as Hekenukumai (Thatcher, J. personal communication, 2019).
