Keener edge to historic axe debate

By TONY GEE

The finders of a historically significant greenstone adze in a remote Far North harbour are asking Prime Minister Helen Clark why it has ended up on a marae instead of being put on display in a museum.

Robert Buchanan, owner of Whangape Station southwest of Kaitaia, was one of several men involved in finding the adze on the seabed of the Whangape Harbour this year.

The adze, of undetermined age and in excellent condition, was found on the bottom of the harbour adjacent to Mr Buchanan's property by two divers working for him on a site survey in preparation for an Environment Court hearing.

The adze is 33cm long , 6.5cm wide and 1.6cm thick and has working grooves on its cutting edge.

Far North (Kaitaia) Regional Museum chairman Vic Hensley, a former NZ Historic Places Trust chairman, said the tool was a classical adze in excellent condition.

It most likely came from the West Coast of the South Island and moved north by being traded between various tribes and people.

Those who examined the adze had agreed that it was of national and historic significance.

Discussions and meetings about what would happen to the adze began soon after it was found, but Mr Buchanan said that its finders had been left out of custodianship discussions.

They had not been included in a process that led to the adze finally being stored on the Whangape Marae.

Mr Buchanan, a registered artefact collector, has written to Helen Clark in her capacity as Minister for Arts, Heritage and Culture asking that her ministry investigate how custody of the adze was established.

He said all the finders believed the adze should be on display in the Kaitaia Museum.

At one stage it was held in a bank vault in Kerikeri, in case it was needed for the Environment Court hearing.

Later, it was taken to Kerikeri police for safe keeping before it was passed on to the museum.

The manager for heritage operations at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage in Wellington, Brodie Stubbs, said a meeting had taken place of representatives of the two hapu on either side of Whangape Harbour, both of which wanted custody of the adze.

It had been agreed that Ngati Haua should take charge of the artefact and keep it at the Whangape Marae.

Mr Stubbs said the ministry had been "happy to sign off" the adze into Ngati Haua care, under a policy that where traditional owners could be established and they had facilities to care for an artefact, custody of an item would be awarded to them if they wanted it.

Mr Hensley said Ngati Haua had obtained a licence to hold a registered collection.

The adze was now housed "comfortably" in a display cabinet on the marae with other items found in the area.

Mr Buchanan said the finders of the adze felt excluded from the custody process and wanted the item to continue to be on public display in Kaitaia.

The advice from his lawyer was that under the Antiquities Act 1975, an application had to be made to the Maori Land Court before any article could be disposed of pursuant to a claim.

Mr Buchanan said he and the other finders believed that no single group could claim the adze.

He said the area had a history of four recorded shipwrecks, several habitation sites, "a grog house of some repute" and major inter-tribal battles between iwi who no longer had traditional jurisdiction in the area.