By RNZ
Stan Walker has lost a “priceless” bag of Māori taonga and he needs your help getting it back.
Walker was performing at the Promiseland music festival in Australia on Saturday when he noticed his green tote bag was missing from where he had left it backstage.
Rings, necklaces, whale bones, and greenstones were among the missing taonga belonging to Walker and his whānau.
On Monday night, the Tūhoe artist made a plea to fans to find the missing bag in a series of Instagram posts.
“Just got back home after Promiseland. Gosh, I don’t even know how to address this, but basically I had a bag with all my clothes and stuff, and I had all my taonga Māori, all my necklaces, rings that are priceless, some of them are like hundreds of years old and everything was in there.
“If you know anybody who might know where they are, please message, ‘cause I’m like, it’s not just my necklaces and stuff, it’s also my wife’s and my kids’.”
Walker’s belongings were left in the band Corrella’s tent backstage when they went missing, and he is willing to pay to get them back.
“There’s a reward for finding this ‘cause this means more to me than anything, so if you know anybody at Promiseland who was backstage and may have seen a bag, please holla at me.
“It had some black Doc Martens in there, some kākahu [clothes], most importantly what I actually really want back is the taonga, it’s all my Māori bones and everything like that... that stuff is tapu [sacred], so you don’t wanna keep it.
“I don’t know if somebody took it by accident or whatever... I’m not saying that anybody’s stolen it, but if anybody just took it and gathered heaps of stuff and put it in their van, or if you know of anybody who just found a bag with heaps of Māori jewellery that doesn’t belong to them, and you shouldn’t be wearing them, holla ‘cause I’m in desperate need.
“I will pay for them just to find them.”
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The Rotorua law student who authored it says the support was 'overwhelming but inspiring'.