The Kahu Kiwi (Māori kiwi feather cloak), was gifted to Dr George Cleghorn, a doctor working in the Wairau Pā region of the South Island by two members of the local iwi (community).
Cleghorn’s widow, Helen, loaned it to the museum in 1913.
Ownership has now been transferred to the hapū, or sub-tribe, as represented by the Ngāti Rārua o Te Wairau Society.
The transfer was made in collaboration with the local iwi, Ngāti Rārua and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, and the descendants of Pukekohatu, te Hiko and Cleghorn.
The cloak will be temporarily held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa until a new Wharenui, or Meeting House, is completed at the cultural centre for the hapū, Hauhunga Marae.
The cloak was repatriated with assistance from the Homebound Project, a charity that aids in returning ancestral remains and cultural items from UK institutions back to their originating communities.
