Aboriginal representatives were welcomed onto Auckland War Memorial Museum this morning to return Indigenous Australian taonga back to their kaitiaki.
By Astley Nathan, Ethan Oneroa
Warumungu tribe representative Jimmy Frank acknowledges the warm welcome he and his contingent received by mana whenua Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei.
“It’s really special… being nominated from our elders to come and collect our sacred objects and take them back home.”
Four ancient aboriginal artefacts were returned to the Warumungu tribe after being in Aotearoa for 120 years. Frank says the tribe was thankful that the objects were in safe hands at the museum.
“That object could have been anywhere, but it came to our brother nation where we’ve got a lot of things very similar, and we’ve got the same sort of beliefs.
“I’m thankful the Māori people are supporting the return of our objects,” he says.
Auckland Museum iwi relationships manager Bobby Newson says the museum ensures the protection of all artefacts in its possession and is open to discussions with other iwi Māori, as well as iwi taketake in returning taonga to their rightful owners.
“Ko te iwi anō, nā rātou ēnei taonga i konei, a, ko tō mātou mahi he kaitiaki noa (These items belong to our iwi, the museum only acts as a guardian for these taonga).”
The Warumungu group is also set to stop in Otago to retrieve six remaining taonga before returning to Australia.
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