Waitaha Taoka

WAITAHA DENIED THEIR ANCESTRAL NAMING RIGHTS TO THEIR TAOKA

District Council and North Otago Museum propose to unilaterally change the naming of the proposed exhibition from the Ancient Waitaha Taoka | Willets Family Collection to The Willets Collection, thus removing Waitaha and connection to the descendants of the makers of these Taoka.  A representative of the Ministry or Culture and Heritage has offered to mediate a formal discussion between Waitaha and the Museum, but the Chair of Waitaha Taiwhenua says that we are not hopeful of a mediated outcome prior to the re-opening of the Museum on December 11 2020 as the Waitaki Museum & Archive have already stated that it is their intention to hold a reopening ceremony regardless.

 Waitaha Taiwhenua o Waitaki Trust descend from the Waitaha ancestor, Rākaihautū, founder of the Waitaha Iwi, who still adhere to Waitaha Kawa and Tikaka and follow their tipuna Te Maihāroa, the last tohuka and prophet of Te Wai Pounamu. 

This ancient lineage is directly linked to the collection of Waitaha taoka found by Stewart Willetts in 1953 at Korotuaheka, at the mouth of the Waitaki River where Te Maihāroa later settled.  These artifacts are the oldest and largest collection ever found in Aotearoa and were donated by the Willetts family who entrusted them into the care of the North Otago Museum in 1996.  In 1990, some of the nearly ten thousand historic Waitaha artifacts were exhibited for the first time as the Ancient Waitaha Taoka | Willetts Family Collection. 

The North Otago Museum recently upgraded its facilities, including an upgrade of the Waitaha Taoka on display, which are of historic, cultural and spiritual significance to Waitaha.   Waitaha Taiwhenua have recently found themselves at odds with Waitaki District Council.

Contrary to recent rhetoric, Waitaha whakapapa, Māori and Pākehā historians can show evidence that Waitaha have been here for at least 50 generations (850 AD). This means Waitaha have a history of almost 1200 years in Te Waipounamu.  The Taoka have been carbon dated by Professor Richard Walter to 1200 AD, which clearly predates both Ngāti Māmoe (1500) and Ngai Tahu (1680) and predates these later Iwi by over 700 years.

The collection is held by the Museum as kaitiaki, not as the owner says Mrs Dodds. If anything, we expected that the Museum would enhance the mana of the collection by calling it the Waitaha Taoka Collection, and acknowledging the Willetts Whānau as the donors. At a recent ceremony to sign a relationship agreement between the Trust and Waitaki District Council no mention was made of the name change. I do not believe it is appropriate to reopen the Collection without the appropriate acknowledgement of Waitaha, it’s just disrespectful and contravenes the spirit of our recently signed Relationship Agreement (2020).

Tumuaki Anne Te Maihāroa Dodds says that Waitaha were inserted without Waitaha consultation as a named Iwi in the Ngāi Tahu Treaty Settlement Act (1998), and we are completely perplexed as to why the Council and Museum would want to change the name of the collection without any discussion with us.