This patu parāoa (whalebone hand weapon) used during the New Zealand Wars offers a window or "little cobweb” into New Zealand’s past.

This patu parāoa (whalebone hand weapon) used during the New Zealand Wars offers a window or "little cobweb” into New Zealand’s past.

The patu parāoa, now safely stored at Te Papa, may look ornamental, but do not be deceived.

It has many stories to tell, including an unlikely connection with a British general.

In Te Ao Māori, taonga resonate according to the events and people with whom they are associated.

It’s believed this patu, a whalebone hand weapon, was used in the battle of Te Ranga in Tauranga Moana, on 21 June 1864.

“After the Māori triumph at Gate Pā was the battle of Te Ranga, which we lost. The colonial forces overwhelmed us and overtook us,” Te Papa’s acting head of Mātauranga Māori, Puawai Cairns, says.

“It’s a lot more complicated but I see Te Ranga as a huge tragedy and great sadness for the tribes of Tauranga.”

For Cairns, who has tribal affiliations to the iwi of Tauranga Moana, Ngāi te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga, this patu has personal significance.

“As a descendant of Tauranga, as someone who will always have the soul tie back to my ancestors, this is like a little window or a little cobweb that helps me connect to home and to the stories I was brought up with,” she says.

The patu has been well-handled and had a lot of wear, Cairns says, with a good patina on it.

While we don’t know exactly who used the patu in battle, a paper label fixed to its surface in another century tells of a fleeting association with an English soldier, a collision of Māori and Pākehā worlds that echoes across time and space.

His name was General Horatio Gordon Robley, and he fought at Gate Pā and Te Ranga.

During his time in New Zealand, Robley sent sketches to the Illustrated London News, Victorian Britain’s most widely read weekly newspaper, communicating a vision of the New Zealand Wars to the seat of colonial power.

That included a sketch of what is believed to be this very patu.

Cairns says she has been trying to figure out this special object’s history, ever since she started working as a curator.

“If it is one of the weapons in the sketch referred to on the label, this patu parāoa becomes a witness to a very profound event in my whakapapa,” Cairns says.

The patu comes with a note saying it was illustrated by General Robley in the London Illustrated News, 24 September 1864.

Tim Walker is an expert on Robley who’s been following his trail for four decades…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details