Walter Wright’s narrative depictions of M?ori life around the turn of last century are rare and important historical documents. Maori Canoe Race depicts waka (canoe) races on Lake Rotorua; waka racing was a sport enjoyed by both M?ori and P?keh? from the mid-19th century and a regular feature of regattas. The canoes or waka t?wai were referred to as waka peke (leaping canoes) when raced by jumping over logs raised slightly above the water surface. For men, there was also the option of diving under the hurdle while the canoe was slid over the top. The winner of the race was the first crew to reach the end while still in their canoe with both paddles. The following extract describing the K?whia Regatta, published in the Te Aroha News, 1885, provides a vivid insight into such an event: “The first of these was a canoe hurdle race, a kind of aquatic steeplechase. The hurdles are formed by driving two posts into the ground at low tide; a cross-bar is rested on the poles, and shows up above the water about nine inches at high tide. The M?oris have to shoot their canoes over the various hurdles along the course. The skill and dexterity with which this is done is admirable. Before crossing the obstacle, the M?oris jump into the stern of the canoe, and so raise the bow; they as quickly transfer themselves to the bow, and thus the hurdle is cleared. There were many collisions in this race, and not a few were upset. The fun was fast and furious during the whole of the contest, and laughter reigned supreme. Perhaps the most imposing spectacle of the day was the race in the war canoes, which were manned by about twenty-five men each, sparsely clad, but in full war paint. This was a grand spectacle, and is every year becoming more rare, and will soon, like the moa, sink into oblivion. The victorious crew were welcomed with a ‘haka’ by the women of the tribe.” Despite the author’s prediction that this sport would cease, there is an annual sporting and cultural festival at T?rangawaewae, Ng?ruaw?hia, where canoe races, including canoe hurdling, are part of the sporting events. A photograph entitled Maori War Canoe Hurdle Race, Lake Rotorua by photographer Ludwig Louis Politzer is in the collection of the State Library of Victoria, Australia, and superb early footage of canoe hurdling at Rotorua is able to be viewed at the Te Ara, The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, website: www.teara.govt.nz/en/canoeing-and-rafting/1/1