Taonga are the material treasures of the peoples of Hauraki. These include such objects as mauri (special or tapu objects possessing great powers), toki (adzes of pounamu and other materials), matau (fishhooks of various material), fishing nets and sinkers, patu and mere (prized weapons), taiaha (a type of wooden weapon), hei tiki (a type of pounamu pendant), pare (door lintels), stone implements for domestic use or weapons, and decorative objects worn on the body, artifacts which reflect in some way the culture and / or identity of the Hauraki people. They hold special meaning, have a history, whakapapa or connectedness, not only to those past but also to the people of the present. Today we impart them with meaning, significance, and importance hoping those qualities will endure into the future.

43. Hauraki have in the past and continue to assert ownership over such taonga wherever such are now located. This ownership arises out of the relationship between Hauraki people and our tupuna who fashioned, used and possessed such taonga. I have sometimes used the term cultural property interchangeably to describe these taonga. To Hauraki these taonga hold their own mauri (lifeforce). There is accordingly an important and distinctive difference to the Maori spiritual perception of taonga compared with non-Maori views.

44. We are now aware from Dr Furey’s report of the location of some of our many taonga, her evidence confirms that there are a large number of taonga from the Hauraki area of interest of this Inquiry district at Auckland Museum and also at Waikato Museum, including the Te Kauri Point hair combs.¹⁵

45. I understand that the vast majority of the items identified by Dr Furey were deposited with museums prior to the implementation of the Antiquities Act 1975 (soon to be renamed the Protected Objects Act

¹⁵ Refer in particular, paragraph 13 of Dr Furey’s evidence