By Kelvin McDonald of Whakaata Maori

A mid-1800s kahu kiwi will go under the auctioneer’s hammer today in Auckland.

The cloak has been in the possession of a collector’s family in Sydney for the past 160 years and was recently returned to Aotearoa for sale.

“It is time and only proper that this taonga whaiaro be returned to its country of origin to take its place in Māori history,” the vendor, who is anonymous, told Webb’s auction house.

The kahu kiwi was registered under the Protected Objects Act by Auckland War Memorial Museum which means it must stay in Aotearoa and can only be purchased by registered collectors of taonga tūturu.

Auckland Museum pouārahi/Māori curator Kahutoi Te Kanawa told Te Karere the museum offered to take care of the taonga but the collector declined.

“We pleaded that he [the owner] considers that the cloak ... the kahu kiwi, gets either gifted or we could make an offer.

“He didn’t want to gift it, and we made an offer, and he essentially said that it’s too late,” Te Kanawa said.

Webb’s estimates the cloak’s value at between $30,000 to $50,000.

However, Te Kanawa said the value of the kahu kiwi cannot be measured in dollars.

“When certain feathers are put on the cloak, it is about the taonga, but it’s also about the mana of the bird,” she told Te Karere.

“When you measure the value of that mana up against commodification or dollars ... to me, it’s the wrong intention.”