The return of the Moriori toki
The spade-shouldered toki that will travel to Rekohu and the kiekie kete woven by Jack’s wife Hazel Walls. Photo: Neil Wilson.
An argyllite toki (adze) that has been in Golden Bay Museum’s collection is soon to be returned to Kopinga, the Moriori marae on Rekohu (the Chatham Islands).
The adze dates back to between 1400 and 1500 AD. It was originally collected by Edward (Ted) Gourlay, an entomologist at the Cawthron Institute and came into the museum’s collection in about 1986 from Margaret Wilson, a former owner of the museum.
In 1992, Onekaka archaeologist Jack Walls was asked to appraise and catalogue the collection and he decided that what Gourlay had written on the toki’s catalogue card was not entirely correct.
“Ted had stated that the toki was made out argyllite sourced from the Mt Ears quarry on D’Urville Isalnd and had been found at Tupuangi on the Northeast coast of Pitt Island,” says Jack. “That was fine, but he also said that it was likely to have been taken there by the Maori when they went there in the 1830s. But, because of its spade-shouldered construction, it’s an early type of adze and would have been out of production by the 1830s. Maori would not have taken that type of implement to Pitt Island then. It just had to have been taken to Pitt Island by the first people there.”
When he was doing the cataloguing in the 90s, Jack was aware that the people of Pitt Island (Rangaurii) had nowhere to store their taonga (treasures) so he stayed in contact with the Moriori descendants there and observed their lengthy efforts to develop a marae and storage facility because he believed the museum should eventually repatriate the toki to Rekohu.
When Kopinga, the new marae, was opened on Rekohu in 2005, Jack knew the time had come for the toki to be repatriated. At Jack’s suggestion, Golden Bay Museum collections manager Jane McDonald recommended that the museum board approve that the toki be de-accessioned from its collection and repatriated into the care of the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, the official arm of the Moriori people. The board readily agreed.
“My initial reaction was to seek advice from Te Papa,” said Jane. “They were excited about the idea because they have been involved in repatriating some items themselves. They suggested that it would be best if the entire protocol surrounding the repatriation be led by Hokotehi.”
The Hokotehi Trust has directed that the toki must travel as hand luggage in secure packaging. The toki will travel to Rekohu in a kete woven by Jack’s wife Hazel Walls, a skilled and experienced weaver.
“The kete is made of kiekie from D’Urville Island, not too far from the quarry at Mt Ayers from where the adze would have originated, so that’s very fitting,”said Jack.
Between 17 and 19 November, Jane will be the guest of the Moriori people at Kopinga Marae. She will travel to the island with the assistance of Te Papa and participate in the formal repatriation of the toki. Jane says the whole repatriation story is very exciting.
“I’m sure it will be a wonderful experience – even though I have to overcome my anxiety about flying in small planes.”
Maui Solomon, the general manager of the Hokotehi Trust said,” We are extremely grateful to the Golden Bay Museum for deciding to repatriate the toki. We want to acknowledge the work that Jack did too. This is important in the larger context of Moriori wanting to bring some of our taonga back ot their natural home. We are looking forward to welcoming Jane to Kopimga Marae.”
Neil Wilson
