November 25, 2022
Patu reinforces Wharekauri connection
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on Wharekauri/Chatham Islands to open the new Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Civic Building and Chatham Islands Museum and observe to the return of a significant taonga.
Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Iwi Trust CEO Gail Amaru says descendant Miria Pōmare travelled with the Prime Minister to bring a patu parāoa or whalebone club which was carried by her tupuna Pōmare Ngātata in 1835 when he led the Māori now known as Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri from Poneke to Wharekauri.
The patu will be housed in the new museum.
The new complex has been constructed on land owned by the trust, with office part of the development was funded entirely by Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri and funding for the museum was provided separately by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Asset Holding Company Chair, Joseph Thomas, says the Office Facility represents an excellent, sustainable investment for the pre-settlement iwi. The asset is leased back to the Chatham Islands Council for a 30-year term.
“Developing and owning an infrastructure type property such as this, tenanted by local government with a large component of central government-backed funding, is a high-quality investment for our iwi,” he says.