February 10, 2016
Rankin tomahawk ambush rankles with museum
The new Waitangi museum is looking for David Rankin.
The Auckland plumber has threatened to remove taonga loaned on behalf of his Ngati Matarahurahu hapu.
He says he received no documentation for the tomhawk that belonged to Hone Heke and a godstick used by Papahuria, and they have been displayed like items at a garage sale.
Waitangi National Trust chief executive Greg McManus says he doesn’t understand why Mr Rankin went to the media rather than talked directly to the trust.
"A lot of the stuff that's been said is completely untrue so we would like to have that conversation with him and talk about it because there is definitely documentation of those taonga dating back to 2005. We are not quite sure where he is coming from we'd like to get hold of him to talk about it. At the end of the day if he wants to withdraw his taonga from the exhibition that's completely fine," says Greg McManus.
The items are part of a long term exhibition Ko Waitangi Tenei/This is Waitangi, which looks the relationship between Maori chiefs and the British Crown before and after the signing of the treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
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