Life And Society

Historic carvings of Hinemihi set to return to Aotearoa

08:22 am on 6 December 2019

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Carvings from a Te Arawa wharenui are set to return home - more than 120 years after leaving New Zealand shores.

The wharenui Hinemihi was a tourist attraction at Lake Tarawera but was sold to English governor-general Sir William Onslow in the late 1800s.

But some descendants have mixed feelings about the return - saying they were kept in the dark by Heritage New Zealand.

John Boynton has more.