One taonga returns home: ‘Strong desire for more to return’

The 5.5m waka maumaharatanga, Te Koanga o Rehua, was carved in the 1800s and returned from Te Papa to Whanganui Regional Museum. Photo / Bevan Conley

A Whanganui taonga so big that national museum shelving had to be dismantled to remove it has returned home after a near-160-year absence.

Tears were shed at a rousing dawn pōhiri on Friday conducted by Whanganui kaumātua and iwi leaders as Te Kōanga O Rehua was unveiled within the atrium of the Whanganui Regional Museum.

“This morning’s unveiling of this precious taonga had whānau in awe and amazement, an event we haven’t seen here since previous taonga repatriations,” Whanganui Regional Museum director Bronwyn Labrum said.

“Whilst we as a museum have the responsibility and honour to care for this precious piece, we are humbled to display Te Kōanga O Rehua during its transition period.”

Te Kōanga O Rehua, carved in remembrance of Whanganui river chief Te Mahutu, was originally a waka that sailed the middle reaches of the awa in pre-colonial times.

The taonga, standing 5.5 metres tall, resembles an obelisk and is shaped from the hull of the waka.

It was taken from the gateway Te Kōanga O Rehua Pā on the banks of the Pipiriki reach of the Whanganui River in a siege by colonial soldiers in the 1860s.

The monolith is said to have been constructed by stone tools around the early 1800s.

Eventually the taonga found its way to the Dominion Museum in Wellington and then Te Papa Tongarewa.

“Te Kōanga O Rehua was attached to a custom-made plinth at Te Papa, which was able to display the impressive near 500-kilogram structure,” Labrum said.

“It was made clear to us that we needed special transport and heavy-lifting services just to get Te Kōanga O Rehua inside.”

A smaller pōhiri was held to bring the taonga inside.

Labrum said that a local engineer was tasked with constructing a 65-kilogram frame for the structure, which is bolted against a pillar in the atrium by a steel frame.

“Our first proposal had the taonga going in the corner of the left maihi of Te Ātihau Nui A Paparangi, but it would’ve clashed with the whare structure. So measurements were perfect for the pillar in the atrium,” Labrum said.

“We eventually settled that Te Kōanga O Rehua had to face our other waka within the whare. It was only right.”

Another idea saw Te Kōanga O Rehua lie with the other Whanganui waka taua, but it was found that it was too large. Its current location saw the moving of smaller whakairo (carving) to make way for the monolith.

Talks are ongoing between Te Papa Tongarewa, Whanganui Regional Museum and Whanganui iwi to formulate a plan of formally returning Te Kōanga O Rehua to the Pipiriki home from which it originated.

“We as a museum collective are prepared to assist the iwi and hapū for when the time comes for him to return home,” Labrum said.

“Once whānau find a place and make a decision to take him home, we will be there to guide Te Kōanga O Rehua home.”

Teremoe, a Whanganui waka tauā, could be returning home too. It was involved in many Whanganui River battles and was a bequest of the Hipango whānau.

Another taonga to possibly return is Teremoe, a waka tauā (war canoe) that is on display on Level 4 at Te Papa Tongarewa.

But neither Whanganui nor the museum have the capacity to repatriate the canoe at this time.

“Teremoe is a large war canoe that was initially pitched to be housed in the museum, but it wouldn’t fit here in current cicumstances,” Labrum said.

Another conversation being had is around the construction of a whare waka, much like Wharewaka on Wellington’s waterfront.

This report was produced under the Public Interest Journalism initiative, funded by NZ on Air.