The story of Takitumu, known as Takitimu in Aotearoa, is one of the great voyaging traditions shared between the peoples of Polynesia. Its legacy remains strong today, with one of Rarotonga's three major vaka districts carrying the name Takitumu.

Pa Tuterangi Ariki Sir Tom Davis, one of the Cook Islands' most loved sons, devoted much of his life to preserving the history of this remarkable canoe. In his historical novel Vaka, he recounts traditions passed down through generations that tell of a vessel built on Savai'i in Samoa and used by successive generations of navigators over some 300 years. Throughout its long life, the canoe was repeatedly repaired, renamed, and entrusted to new captains, becoming one of the most renowned vaka of the Pacific.

According to these traditions, Takitumu eventually departed for Aotearoa under the command of Tamatea Arikinui, with the renowned navigator and spiritual expert Ruawharo guiding the voyage. On board were ancestors of many iwi whose descendants would later settle throughout the eastern regions of the North Island, including Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngati Ranginui, and Ngati Ruapani.

As with many ancient traditions, accounts differ on exactly where Takitimu first made landfall. Some traditions place its arrival at Awanui in the far north, while others maintain that the waka reached Whangaokena near East Cape before continuing south along the eastern coastline. Along the journey, crew members settled in different locations, establishing communities and giving names to places that reflected memories of their ancestral homelands.

At Mahia, Ruawharo is said to have left the waka and settled ashore. His legacy remains woven into the landscape, remembered through local place names and traditions that continue to be passed down by his descendants.

Tradition describes Takitumu as a fast and highly capable vaka. Its reputation was such that it was said to outpace other vessels on long ocean voyages. Many stories celebrate the skill of its navigators and the remarkable distances it travelled across Te Moana nui a Kiwa, the great Pacific Ocean.

The vaka continued its journey through Aotearoa, eventually reaching Te Waipounamu, the South Island, where its crew are said to have gathered pounamu from the Arahura River on the West Coast. According to one tradition, it was there that Takitumu's voyaging days came to an end, transformed into stone and becoming part of the landscape itself. Other traditions place its final resting place further south in Murihiku.

Today, the story of Takitumu and Takitimu remains one of the strongest reminders of the ancestral connections linking the Cook Islands and Aotearoa. Through the descendants of its voyagers, the place names they bestowed, and the traditions they carried across the ocean, the legacy of this great vaka continues to endure on both sides of the Pacific.