Hui
On 17 September the New Zealand Historic Places Trust attended an important hui at Rāpaki Marae.
The hui was held due to the loss of a toki, a taonga tūturu, found during demolition at the Norwich Quay Post Office in Lyttelton in October 2011.
This was the first recorded archaeological evidence of Māori occupation in Lyttelton but unfortunately the toki was also the first-ever recorded taonga tūturu to be lost.
The taonga, known as the Ohinehou toki, was in the temporary care of the contract archaeologists while waiting to be exhibited at the Quake City exhibition when it opened in March. It was to be exhibited alongside the tekoteko from Kaiapoi Pā as a tangible acknowledgement of the Kāi Tahu experience as a result of the earthquake.
The missing toki, taonga tūturu, found during demolition at the Norwich Quay Post Office in Lyttelton.
It was noticed missing from the contract archaeologist’s storage facility just prior to it being transferred to the Quake City exhibition.
Attending the hui were Ministry of Culture and Heritage advisors, Honiana Love and Basil Keane, New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) Southern Regional Archaeologist, Frank van der Heijden and Pouarahi Huia Pacey, who confirmed to Ngāti Wheke members that a taonga tūturu had never been lost before, as both organisations relied on the professional care and attention from temporary custodians to safeguard taonga. Neither organisation had processes or protocols to deal with an event of this kind.
While having no official responsibility for the toki, NZHPT had taken the loss seriously and had immediately set to work to establish and incorporate aftercare provisions in their archaeological authorities to minimise the risk of this occurring again. Artefact management plans were now an established part of the archaeological authority conditions in the Canterbury/West Coast region. These plans will ensure that the location of all artefacts found as a result of an archaeological authority, will be documented at every step while being recorded, analysed and stored.
Katherine Watson, the contract archaeologist who had temporary custodianship of the taonga, was also present at the hui. Katherine presented her apologies to Ngāti Wheke and confirmed the toki is still missing. She distributed copies of her freshly completed artefact management plan that would track any archaeological find (let alone taonga tūturu) while in her company’s hands.