Ministry digs for owners of artefacts

Part of a waka was found in Auckland's Waiuku Estuary. Photo / Thinkstock

Advertisements call for claims over recently discovered Maori cultural items.

Wooden digging implements found in the Coromandel and a piece of waka from an Auckland estuary are among items officials want help with in determining ownership.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has taken out newspaper advertisements notifying the finding of a number of taonga tuturu (Maori items safeguarded under the law).

It wants claims of ownership lodged for the following recently discovered items:

Toki/adze, found at the Otuataua Stonefields in Mangere.

Ketu (a digging implement used for loosening soil around kumara plants), from Tuateawa in the Coromandel.

One patu aruhe (fern root beater) and one item of worked wood from Kawakawa Bay in Auckland.

Part of a waka, from Auckland's Waiuku Estuary.

Taonga tuturu means an object that relates to Maori culture, history, or society and was, or appears to have been, manufactured or used by Maori and is more than 50 years old.

Such artefacts or treasures are a category of safeguarded items defined in the Protected Objects Act.

The same legislation was cited in 2010 when Sir Edmund Hillary's widow, Lady June, was asked to return one of her late husband's wristwatches to New Zealand after she entered it for sale at a Swiss auction house.

People who find a Maori artefact are required to report it to the ministry. The item is then held at a museum until ownership is decided.

Since 2006, the ministry has handled 329 cases involving 1429 items. Of these, 32 cases involving 55 items remain unclaimed.

Pieces of history

• The finding of a Maori artefact is reasonably common - about 30 to 50 items are reported to officials each year.

• The significance of such items means it's not "finder's keepers" - they fall under the Protected Objects Act and must be notified to government officials.

• The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has taken out newspaper advertisements notifying the discovery of a number of taonga tuturu, including part of a waka found in an Auckland estuary.