Ka kitea te taonga tūturu e te mātanga hītori o āpōpō e ono tau, i te takutai o Tāmaki

Arā te whakatau ōkawa e kīia nei he taonga tūturu te kōhatu hoanga i kitea ai e te mātanga hītori o āpōpō, me te harikoa hoki o te tamaiti e ono tau, Rowan Tompkins.

A budding historian’s discovery of an abrader stone has been officially deemed an artefact, and a taonga tūturu, to six-year-old Rowan Tompkins’ absolute joy.

Read this story in English here.

I toro atu a Rowan rāua ko tōna whaea, Amber Tompkins, ki te Torpedo Bay Navy Base Museum, i Te Hau Kapua, i te Hūrae 2022, kātahi a Rowan “ka kite i tētahi toka i te mōwaho.”

Rowan and his mother, Amber Tompkins, were visiting the Torpedo Bay Navy Base Museum, in Devonport, in July 2022, when Rowan “glimpsed a rock out of the corner of my eye”.

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“I kitea tēnei toka nui, i hāpaitia, i whakaatua atu ki a Māmā,” tā Rowan.

“I saw this huge rock, I picked it up and showed it to Mummy,” Rowan said.

I kī a Amber, pēnei ia he toka noa tēnei i pīrangi a Rowan ki te kawe, engari i taku kitenga atu, i kitea ētahi “haehae rerekē”.

Amber Tompkins said she thought the rock was just another rock Rowan wanted to carry, but then saw it had some “interesting grooves”.

“Kāore au i te mōhio ki tērā momo, nā reira i whakapae noa au he toka paruhi me ōna anō rārangi,” hei tā Rowan.

“I didn’t know what they were, I thought it was just a really cool fascinating rock with lines in it,” Rowan said.

“I whakapae māua he mōtū Māori pea, kua kitea tēnā momo e māua ki te Whare Taonga o Raglan,” hei tā Amber.

“We thought it might have been Māori fishing stone, which we had seen in the Raglan Museum,” Amber Tompkins said.

I whakaahuatia te toka e te whānau, ka tukuna ki Tāmaki Penga Hira mō te tūpono he kōrero anō ōna.

The family took photos and sent them to the Auckland Museum, to see if it might be of interest.

Kāore i roa, i tonoa te whānau Tompkins e Tāmaki Paenga Hira kia toro mai ki tō rātou whare e āta hihiratia ai te toka e rātou.

Not long after, Auckland Museum asked for the Tompkinses to come to the museum with their rock, so they could have a proper look.

“Inā te ngahau o te tae atu ki te whare taonga, i poho kererū katoa au,” tā Rowan, mō tana tūhuratanga toka.

“It was very cool going to the museum, I was very proud of myself,” Rowan said, referring to his rock discovery.

“I manaakitia mātou, he mahi mā Māmā, i te noho noa au,” tāna kī mai.

“They were nice to us, it was more a Mummy job, I was just sitting around,” he said.

I whakamahuki mai a Amber te “mahi mā Māmā”, arā ko te whakakī puka, tētahi mea tē oti i te tamaiti kua ono tau.

Amber Tompkins explained the “Mummy job” was filling out forms, something the six-year-old wasn’t able to do himself.

Ahakoa kua 6 anake ōna tau, kua kaingākau ia ki te hītori nōna e 5 ana, ka mutu, hei tāna “mai rā anō” tēnā, ā, ko ngā tino kaupapa ki a ia ko ngā mokonui me ngā “whara nōnamata”.

Although he is only 6, Rowan has loved history since he was 5, which he described as “a very long time” ago, with his favourite subjects being dinosaurs and “prehistoric guys”.

“E pai ana hoki ki ahau te hītori, engari kāore e pērā rawa i ngā mokonui,” hei tāna.

“I like war history too but not as much dinosaurs,” he said.

Ko te toronga ki ngā whare taonga “tāna tino mahi”, ā, he rite tonu hoki tāna toro atu ki ngā whare taonga o Raglan me Tāmaki Paenga Hira, waihoki te Maritime Museum and the Navy Museum.

Visiting museums is his “favourite thing to do” and he is a frequent visitor to Raglan Museum, Auckland Museum, the Maritime Museum and the Navy Museum.

Pēnei a Rowan he “tino ihiihi” te kitenga i te kōhatu, engari kua aro kē ia ki tāna tūhurutanga e whai ake nei.

Rowan thought finding the stone was “quite exciting” but has his sights set on his next discovery.

“Ka hihiko ake au i te kitenga i tētahi mātātoka mokonui, e mate ana au kia kite i tētahi,” hei tāna.

“I would be more excited to find a dinosaur fossil, I really want to find one,” he said.

Ka taha ake ngā marama e ono, ka whakapāngia anō te whānau e Tāmaki Paenga Hira, ka mea atu ki Rowan he taonga tūturu te toka nā.

Six months passed until Auckland Museum contacted the family again, to tell Rowan the rock was “a real artefact”.

Nā Tāmaki Paenga Hira te whakatau he hoanga te kōhatu, he momo kia oro, kia whakaahua, kia parakena, kia mākohakoha, kia whakakoi hoki i ngā rawa pēnei i te kōhatu, te wheua, te pihi me te rākau.

Auckland Museum determined the rock was an abrader stone, which are used for grinding, shaping, polishing, smoothing and sharpening materials like stone, bone, antler and wood.

I te 30 o Hānuere, i tuhi a Pouhere Taonga ki te whānau Tompkins kia mihia rātou i te tuku i te hoanga, te taonga tūturu, ki Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

On January 30, Heritage New Zealand wrote to the Tompkins family to thank them for handing the abrader stone, a taonga tūturu, over to Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum.

E tiakina nei ngā taonga tūturu, ā, he whakapapa ki te ao Māori, ka mutu, he mana, he tapu, he mauri hoki ō ngā taonga.

Taonga tūturu are protected objects that whakapapa to te ao Māori, and embody mana, tapu, and mauri.

E hia ngā momo āhua o te taonga tūturu, atu i ngā waka e 800 tau te kaumātuatanga, ki ngā raranga nō te rautau rua tekau, ki ngā toka hoanga, pēnei i tā Rowan i kite ai.

Taonga tūturu can take many forms, from 800-year-old waka to early twentieth-century weaving, or a stone abrader, like Rowan found.

I te nuinga o te wā, kua kitea ngā taonga tūturu e te marea, ki ngā mahi whaipara tangata, ngā mahi hanga whare rānei, ā, i ētahi wā kua matea te kokenga tonutanga o te manaakitia o te taonga.

Taonga tūturu are generally found by members of the public, or through archaeological activity or construction projects, and sometimes require ongoing conservation treatment.

Mā ngā iwi me ngā hapū pea e whakatau kia manaaki i ngā taonga mā ngā mahinga taketake, ngā rautaki a te whare taonga, te tūhono atu ki ō rātou uri mā te toi, te puoro, te mātauranga, me ngā whakamāoritanga kē atu.

Iwi and hapū may choose to undertake conservation of taonga through indigenous methods, through established museum conventions, or connecting to their uri through art, music, education, and other alternative interpretations.

Nō te Karauna te haepapa kia tiaki, kia manaaki hoki i ngā taonga tūturu kātahi tonu nei ka hura ake.

The Crown is responsible for the care and custody of newly-found taonga tūturu.

He mea whakamāori e te Kaihautū Reo Māori ki Puna, e Taurapa.

Translation by Stuff Kaihautū Reo Māori Taurapa.