Tainui elders embraced a Maori cloak on Tuesday as it was welcomed home after spending nearly six decades in China.
The kahu huruhuru or korowai has been returned to Aotearoa for a limited time on loan to the national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, in Wellington.
The korowai (cloak) is brought into the meeting house at Te Papa. Photo: RNZ
The cloak is made from wool and feathers from a mallard duck, an albatross, a pukeko, a pheasant and a chicken.
It was given to Chinese leader Chairman Mao Zedong as a gesture of goodwill from the Maori King, Koroki, in 1957 and presented to him by pioneering Maori film-maker Ramai Te Miha.
Ms Hayward and her husband Rudall were the first English-speaking tourists allowed to film in China and the gifting of the cloak is documented in her film Inside Red China.
After seeing the film in 2004, New Zealand's ambassador to China John McKinnon read Ms Hayward's account and managed to find the cloak at the National Museum of China in Beijing where it was in storage.
Acting Kaihautu at Te Papa, Rhonda Paku of Ngai Tuhoe and Ngati Kahungunu, said on Tuesday the National Museum of China has been a pleasure to deal with and the Chinese people understand the symbolism.
Te Papa chief executive Michael Houlihan paid tribute to the New Zealand China Friendship Society for their role in the temporary return of a precious taonga (treasure).
The cloak will go on display from 13 June until 20 October as part of the Mana Whenua exhibition before being returned to China.
Dignitaries and members of the Tainui iwi attended the welcoming ceremony. Photo: RNZ
