In Māori tradition, Mānuka was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled the South Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand).^[1] The canoe is said to have travelled to the Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki to procure kūmara, a type of sweet potato.^[2][3][1] Although the Mānuka returned with kūmara, most accounts state that efforts to germinate and grow the tubers it brought back ended in failure.^[3][1][2]

In Ngā Waka o Neherā (2009), Jeff Evans writes that Mānuka was built from the same tōtara tree as Āraiteuru, her sister waka (canoe).^[4] There was a dispute between Tua-kakariki, who first found the log on the beach, and Rongo-i-tua, a visitor who was eager to return home.^[4] To stake his claim, Rongo-i-tua had deposited his own excrement on the log while Tua-kakariki was away trying to assemble a work party to move it.^[4]

Rongo-i-tua was awarded the log and got help from the Kahui-tipua people to build a canoe, promising to lead an expedition to bring back more dried kūmara.^[4] The first canoe to be built was called Mānuka ('ma' = claim possession, 'nuka' = deceive) for the way he claimed the log.^[4] Once the canoe had been completed, the Kahui-tipua claimed it for their own and travelled to Hawaiki to acquire kūmara.^[4] However, once they returned, they were unable to successfully cultivate it.^[4]

One version of the story is that the kūmara failed to grow because the South Island was too cold.^[2] According to a Murihiku account, the crop rotted in the ground because ritual incantations were not performed.^[3]

Other accounts state that the Mānuka had brought back only a "scraggly few" plants.^[3] Subsequent canoe voyages were tasked with bringing back the "better kinds" of kūmara.^[3] In one such narrative, Rongo-i-tua, or Roko, set forth from Hawaiki on the Āraiteuru, but was caught in a storm which pushed the kūmara overboard.^[2] After washing up on shore, the vegetables were petrified to form the Moeraki Boulders.^[2]

• List of Māori waka