Call for taonga to be returned to Parihaka

The former chief executive of the Tasman Bays Heritage Trust is asking Nelson families holding taonga taken from Parihaka to do the right thing and return them. About 200 of the 1600 militia who stormed the unarmed Taranaki township 139 years ago were from Nelson and Marlborough. Wayne Marriott says positive acknowledgements have begun with the return of memorabilia to Japan and Europe from the World Wars, and it's now time to look closer to home. The Whakatane based art dealer told our Nelson reporter Tracy Neal about the day he learned items from Parihaka lay quietly in Nelson.