A large Māori artefact taken during the Waikato invasion in the 1860s, is a step closer to returning home to Rangiriri near Meremere, after 163 years.
Measuring at 7m long and 1.5m at its widest point, it is the longest known hīnaki (eel trap) in any Māori taonga collection worldwide, and is held by Melbourne Museum.
Brad Totorewa, spokesperson for Waikato hapū Ngāti Naho, worked closely with museum curator Jade Hadfield over the last two years to reach this stage. He said he felt compelled to travel over to witness the museum board pass their final approval to remove the taonga from their collection, paving the way for repatriation.
“I ahau e kōrero ana, hotuhotu ana te ngākau, engari ka tahuri atu au ki te wahine, ko ia te tiamana o te poari, ka timata te wahine nei ki te tangi i tana mārama ki te hirahiratanga o tēnei taonga,” he said.
(“As I was speaking, my heart swelled with emotion. [And] I turned to the chairwoman of the board, who started to cry with the understanding of how significant this taonga is.”)
“No reira kua koa te ngākau. E tangi ana a roto ki tēnei taonga e takoto main nā.”
(“So I’m glad. Although grieving deeply for our taonga lying there.”)
He said they plan to return the hīnaki within the next four months.
Curator Jade Hadfield (Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Ngāti Kahungunu) said the museum had a long history of repatriation of First Peoples collections.
“This was significant because this particular hīnaki was acquired in 1871, and was collected, or captured, after the battle of Rangiriri,” she said.
The battle of Rangiriri took place in November 1863 between British troops and Māori. It’s considered one of the defining battles of the conflict and both sides suffered heavy casualties.
In 1995, the Crown apologised to Waikato for “unjustly” invading and confiscating land, causing “widespread suffering, distress, and deprivation” as a result of waging war.
Hadfield said due to this association, the museum felt it was time the artefact returned home.
“[The repatriation is] hugely significant, not only for Ngāti Naho, Waikato-Tainui, but it's also significant for Māori, and then also indigenous people across the world,” she said.
Totorewa was joined by other members of the hapū and iwi, who were also given the chance to view the hīnaki - another momentous occasion.
It's said to have been first unrolled 17 years after its donation, in 1888, and most recently by the curators at the Melbourne Museum, 136 years later.
According to research, the hīnaki was retrieved from a canoe, and donated by Sir William Saltonstall Wiseman, commander of a flotilla of colonial gunboats that attacked Rangiriri.
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