It was fitting that the unveiling coincided with Matariki, for Maori the beginning of a new year and a time to remember those who had passed on, she said.
Ms Bigwood said the improved display had been a long time coming, but it had been done properly and according to Maori protocol. Local hapu, who had given guidance on how the weapons should be displayed and what they represented, were keen for the taonga to be shared, so Heritage New Zealand was considering how they could be displayed elsewhere around the rohe.
Ngati Kura kaumatua Nau Epiha, who conducted the blessing, said the weapons were originally made to separate people, to make people dislike one another, but Hongi Hika gifted them to missionary James Kemp when he gave up his dominating ways, in exchange for Kemp's gift of Christianity.
"I'm glad I'm the elder to bring these taonga back into reality," he said.
Ms Bigwood described Hongi Hika as a remarkable rangatira who changed Maori warfare and tribal boundaries forever. He gave protection to the missionaries who were able to establish the Kerikeri Mission Station at the foot of his pa, Kororipo. Kemp House was the sole surviving building of that time, when Maori and missionaries lived side by side in what was at times an uneasy peace.
"Hongi was a highly skilled military strategist and fearsome warrior who saw trading benefits, including access to muskets, in having the missionaries living in the shadow of his pa," she said.
"Missionaries like James Kemp tried to dissuade Hongi from seeking utu through warfare, but failed. Over a thousand Ngapuhi warriors gathered at Kororipo with muskets to launch attacks on tribes to the south who were armed only with traditional weapons of wood and stone.
"Thousands were killed and thousands more enslaved."
Despite Hongi's reputation for ferocity in battle, he was also known as a gentle family man, and was keen to learn more about the missionaries' world. So much so that he sent his daughter Rongo to live at Kemp House to learn their ways.
"Hongi often came to Kemp House to dine here and discuss religion and politics, a reflection on the relationship he had with the missionaries, which endured despite the evidence of violence and warfare that they had frequently witnessed at Kororipo," she added.
"Kemp family history records that Hongi gifted these precious taonga to James Kemp before leaving for Whangaroa in 1827. They remain as a legacy of the earliest partnership between Maori and Pakeha."
One of the tewhatewha was a particularly striking example. Carved with metal tools, and therefore made after Europeans had arrived in New Zealand, it bore battle marks on the blade as well as wear on the manaia, the carved bird-like figure on the shaft that served as a guardian.
"Tewhatewha were often referred to by Maori as the 'rakau rangatira,' or chiefly weapon, because they were almost invariably seen in the hands of rangatira," she said.
"The weapon was used to signal warriors during battle, on the marae, or marking time for paddlers in war canoes. People who carried the tewhatewha had considerable mana."
The raparapa, or striking end of the tewhatewha, had a hole drilled through it so that hawk or pigeon feathers could be attached. Experienced warriors often flicked the suspended feathers into their opponent's eyes, and, while their opponents were momentarily distracted, stabbed them with the pointed end of the weapon before reversing arms and striking the head with the straight front surface of the blade.
"In the right hands the pouwhenua, like the tewhatewha, could inflict death with a single blow delivered at lightning speed," Ms Bigwood said.
