Descendants of Hinemihi head to London to bring home carvings

Hinemihi covered in ash and abandoned after the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. More than 100 people survived by sheltering inside. Photo / Supplied

By RNZ

A delegation has arrived in England to retrieve significant Māori carvings that have been there since the 19th century, in exchange for new ones.

Te Hono o Hinemihi, a delegation of 48 Hinemihi descendants, has travelled to Surrey, London for the exchange.

The Hinemihi meeting house was carved for Aporo Te Wharekaniwha, a leader of the hapū Ngāti Hinemihi, and was used by people in Rotorua to take shelter from the 1886 Tarawera eruption.

It was later sold to William Hillier Onslow, who took it back to his family estate in Surrey, where it has stood since the 1890s.

Since the 1950s the National Trust has been the guardian of the carvings and the Clandon Park property where it stands. But discussions about the return also included the Pouhere Tāonga, Nga Kohinga Whakairo o Hinemihi and Te Maru o Hinemihi.

Hinemihi delegation representative Heeni Brown said the artefacts were a vital part of New Zealand history and they held massive significance.

The 4th Earl of Onslow brought the house back to his home at Clandon Park from New Zealand as a permanent reminder of his time there as governor.

"When it comes to Hinemihi, the carvers of that era are some of the last who used traditional practices, so not just building it how you would a house," she said.

Although the original carvings were being taken back to Aotearoa, the exchange of new carvings meant those in the UK who whakapapa back to New Zealand would still have an important cultural space there.

Brown said they wanted to ensure expatriate New Zealanders felt connected to Aotearoa, and the new carvings would provide for a new marae for Clandon Park in the UK.

After England, the delegation is to continue on to Hamburg, Germany, to host a display of live workshops, demonstrations and haka performances by Te Kapa Haka o Tarāwha.