An Iconic carved Maori Whare has been returned to the original Gisborne owners as part of a Treaty of Waitangi Settlement signed last week.
Ki Hau ki Turanga, the oldest meeting house in New Zealand, is currently on display at Te Papa.

The Whare was built In the early 1840s by Raharuhi Rukupo, of the Ngati Kaipoho hapu of Rongowhakaata and others at Orakaiapu Pa,Manutuke. The building was constructed as a memorial to TamatiWaka Mangere, a rangatira and Rukupo's elder brother.

It was taken by government troops in 1867, against the protests of the owners.

The whare was displayed in the Colonial Museum in Wellington from 1868 to the 1930s, when it was restored under the supervision of Sir Apirana Ngata. It was removed from the former National Museum in the 1990s and reinstalled as the centrepiece of the Maori collection of the Museum of New Zealand/Te Papa Tongarewa.

NZ First MP Brendan Horan says he hopes the Crown also pay the insurance costs of the historic taonga.

'The hurt humiliation and atrocities inflicted upon Rongowhakaata can never be fully compensated for,” says Brendan.

'In financial terms one cannot replace what was lost when Maori landowners were dispossessed, only to watch European famers lease that land at peppercorn rates, borrow on the equity and build empires, while Maori were catapulted into poverty.”

Rangatira from Rongowhakaata and other Gisborne iwi signed the Treaty of Waitangi in May 1840, and retained control of their own affairs until 1865. Taking advantage of trading opportunities created by Pākehā settlement in New Zealand, Rongowhakaata owned and operated several trading ships, exporting produce to Auckland and Australia.

Soldiers went to Gisborne in November 1865 because of incidents with adherents of the Pai Maririe religion. The Crown was anti Pai Marire, believing it was politically anti-government. Carl Volkner was murdered at Opotiki in March 1865 by Pai Marire adherents.

In March 1865 emissaries arrived in Gisborne winning many new converts including some Rongowhakaata.

Rongowhakaata remained neutral when fighting broke out between the Crown and Māori in other regions before 1865.

The Crown issued an ultimatum threatening Gisborne Māori with attack if they did not submit. Crown forces assaulted the pa at Waerenga a Hika on 20 November 1865, killing at least 71 people.

It sparked a famous chapter in the history of the New Zealand wars with the exile in 1866 of about 116 Gisborne Maori, including some Rongowhakaata, to the Chatham Islands. Many women and children accompanied the men.

The Crown advised them they would remain exiled until it had confiscated Gisborne land as punishment for the ‘rebellion' at Waerenga a Hika in November 1865. The men woemn and children were held without charge or trial in harsh conditions for more than two years.

Te Kooti led the prisoners, who became known as the Whakarau, in their escape to freedom from the Chathams in July 1868. In November 1868 the Whakarau raided Gisborne, killing many people including some who had been involved in land dealings or the exile of Te Kooti. A large Crown force, including Māori allies, pursued the Whakarau to Ngatapa where, in January 1869, Crown forces summarily executed about 128 prisoners after capturing the pā. Te Kooti evaded capture for four years before finding refuge in the King Country.

A Crown apology to his descendants was part of the settlement.

Rongowhakaata and their Gisborne relatives were forced to cede all their land to the Crown in December 1868.

The Poverty Bay Commission and then the Native Land Court awarded individualised titles to Rongowhakaata, which made their land more susceptible to partition, fragmentation and alienation.

The Crown failed to protect Rongowhakaata from being left virtually landless. They lost land to public works takings, and some Rongowhakaata lost their interests in the small amount of ancestral land Rongowhakaata retained at Manutuke as a result of a consolidation scheme. Rongowhakaata suffered significant socio-economic deprivation, and their children are still at great risk of poor health, unemployment and educational disadvantage.

The Crown acknowledges its actions arising from interaction with Rongowhakaata whereby it breached the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.

The Crown apologises to Rongowhakaata for its acts and omissions which have breached the Crown's obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi. The breaches include the unnecessary use of force at Waerenga a Hika and the summary executions by Crown forces at Ngatapa, the denial of basic human rights to those Rongowhakaata detained without trial on the Chatham Islands, the pressure applied to extinguish Rongowhakaata customary land interests, the failure to protect Rongowhakaata's tribal structures after land tenure reforms were imposed, and the failure to protect Rongowhakaata from landlessness and to respect Rongowhakaata rangatiratanga in the administration of all their remaining land. The Crown also specifically apologises to Ngā Uri o Te Kooti Rikirangi for its actions which led to Te Kooti taking up arms, and contributed to the stigmatisation of Te Kooti and his descendants.

The name ‘Te Hau ki Turanga' has been translated as the ‘spirit' or ‘good-tidings from Turanga', and the ‘breath' or ‘vitality of Turanga'.
The carvers who worked under Rukupo's supervision in the construction are believed to have been Enoka,Hakaraia Ngapatari,Hamiora Te Uarua,Heta Meha,Himiona Te Papaapiti, Hirawanu Tukuamiomio, Hone Tiatia, Hopa, Reweti Tauri Tuhura, Mahumahu, Matenga Tamaioria,Matenga TeHore,Natana Hira Toromata,Paora Rakaiora,Pera Tawhiti (Rukupo's younger brother), Poparae Kemaka,Rawiri Hokeke, and Wereta Whakahira.

The crown conceded that the assumption of possession of Te Hau ki Turanga was in breach of the principles of the Treaty ofWaitangi during the early stages of the settlement process.