He whakapāha te rere ake i Te Manatū Ahu Matua mō ngā āpiha o te whare rererangi ki Pōneke, nā rātou tētahi taonga whakakai i muru. E ai ki te tangata nōna te taonga, kātahi rā te mahi whakahārangi i a ia, ko tēnā.
I tana hokinga mai ki Aotearoa i tana hararei, ka tangohia te taonga whakakai a Jake Aitken e ngā āpiha o Te Manatū Ahu Matua ki te taunga rererangi.
Hei tāna, “The customs agents saw the taonga and thought that it might be from an endagered whale species and so they wanted to investigate that.”
“They asked me to sign that document to say that I was surrendering my taonga to them so they could then pass it on to the DOC to investigate the taonga and say whether I could have it back eventually or whether it was going to be destroyed.”
Hei tā Aitken, he whakakai marihi, ka mutu, he wheako kawa.
“This taonga was given to me by my mother, my sister and some other members of my whānau. It was carved specifically for me for my 18th birthday and represents my two older brothers who both passed away when they were young children.”
Hei tā Aitken i tangohia te taonga e ngā āpiha o Manatū Ahu Matua i raro i te ture Hokohoko Momo Mōrearea 1989 ka whakahaeretia e Te Papa Atawhai.
Ko tā te kaitohutohu ā-motu o Te Papa Atawhai a Hilary Aikman, kia tiekina ngā momo mōrearea, kia ū hoki ki te Tikanga Hokohoko Momo Mōrearea, kei ngā āpiha "momo mōrearea" te mana, ki te whakamātau i ngā mea e puta ana, e kuhu mai ana rānei ki tēnei whenua, kia kite mehemea, he momo mōrearea.
Heoi ko tā Aitken, kāre ngā āpiha i whakamārama, i whakaatu rānei i te ture ki a ia, ka mutu, he mahi takahi ahurea.
Hei tā Andrew Spelman o Manatū Ahu Matua, "kei te aroha atu mātau i raru a Mr Aitken i tōna wheako. Kua tae mai tētahi amuamu e pā ana ki tā ngā kaimahi Manatū Ahu Matua, ā, kei te tirohia e mātau. Ka whai mātau kia mōhio ā mātau kaimahi kei mua i ngā tikanga whakaute i ngā tāngata katoa, āpiti ngā tūtohu e pā ana ki ngā taonga."
Kei te akiaki Te Papa Atawhai kia whakapā atu ki a rātau mēnā kei te haere ki rāwahi, kia mōhio meheamea me whai puka whakaae hei taunaki i ngā taonga o ngā momo mōrearea pēnei i te kōiwi tohorā.