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A historic meeting house is one step closer on a long journey home.
The Government has announced a $7 million grant to restore the Mataatua whare, which began life in Whakatane in the 19th century and only recently returned to the Bay of Plenty town after stints in museums around the world.
Ngati Awa, the tribe that built the meeting house and fought long and hard for its return, is vowing to restore the unique carved building to its ancestral home.
"We are never, ever going to put it back in a museum-type setting," Te Runanga o Ngati Awa chairman Hirini Mead said. "It's a beautiful wharenui, and when we finally get it up, it will become an icon for the whole of Whakatane, and for the whole of the nation."
The wharenui was built in 1875 as a symbol of Ngati Awa strength after tribal land was taken away in the raupatu (colonial confiscations).
But soon after, the Government asked the iwi for the meeting house, saying it was needed as an example of Maori art for a British Empire exhibition in Sydney.
Several tribes were asked and refused, but Ngati Awa felt it had no choice after suffering several military campaigns on its soil.
At the Sydney exhibition, the whare was turned inside out, with interior carvings on the outside walls so people did not have to go inside.
It then went to Melbourne, and on to London, where it was seen by King George V and Queen Mary.
For the next 40 years, the whare was kept in storage in London, until the Government asked for it back for another British Empire exhibition, this time in Dunedin.
The building was then given to the Otago Museum, where it remained until 1995, when the Crown agreed to purchase it back for Ngati Awa.
The return of Mataatua had been top of the tribe's list during Treaty negotiations beginning in 1980, but at first it was told it had no right to the whare because it had been gifted to the Queen.
By the time the Crown acknowledged the iwi's claim, the whare was no longer its original shape. During various incarnations in museums, the heads and feet of carvings had been chopped off and panels changed.
Now, after the announcement by the Associate Minister of Treaty Negotiations, Mita Ririnui, an entire new shell for the meeting house will be built.
Ngati Awa carvers and weavers have already spent eight years restoring the original heke (rafters) and tukutuku (woven panels) and creating some new carvings.
Their work has included restoration of a unique depiction of twin tipuna (ancestors) and Ngati Awa warriors Wahamama and Taitimuroa. Carvers Danny McRoberts and Lawrence Hohua said it had been a privilege to restore the totara woodwork and think about the ancestors who first worked on the whare.
The whare will be built on tribal land with views to Whakatane Heads.
A resource consent application has been lodged and project manager Hawiki Ranapia hopes it will be complete in 2010.
Ngati Awa also plans to build an arts and culture centre on the site, and open Mataatua to the public.
