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Carved Posts Come Home [Pouwhenua]

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Description: This image was taken (but not used) for a story that ran in The Manawatu Evening Standard on 4th August 1993. "The air was thick with emotion when four Rangitāne pouwhenua (carved stockade posts) were returned home yesterday after an absence of 60 years. Originally from Puketotara Pa, the pouwhenua were considered significant and important taonga for the Rangitāne people. They were the only large Rangitāne carvings still in New Zealand, and four of seven in existence. In 1933, Wiremu Kingi Te Awe Awe presented the carvings to the then Dominion Museum for safekeeping. There they were displayed in the Māori Hall for many years. Today, a delegation from the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, led by board chairman Sir Hamish Hay and Māori art and history director Cliff Whiting, handed over the carvings on a permanent loan basis to the Manawatu Museum. They will form a major component of the exhibitions in the new Manawatu Museum - Science Centre, opening in February next year. Mr. Whiting said the decision to return the carvings to their area of origin was part of the New Zealand Museum's policy of partnership with other museums. [Pictured] One of the four Rangitāne pouwhenua, returned to the Manawatu yesterday, is unveiled in preparation for transportation to a wing of the Museum's new premises."