Newspaper Article 2019 – Kahu kiwi taonga cloaked in mystery

Kahu kiwi taonga cloaked in mystery

Patrick O’Sullivan

 It was once a personal treasure, now it’s everyone’s.

At Wellington’s Government House, one of our most prestigious and significant properties and a place where foreign dignitaries are welcomed, a mystery cloak is on display at the entrance to the ballroom.

It is a kiwi cloak – kahu kiwi – but nobody knows where the taonga originated.

“We know it was given to Sir Bernard Fergusson,” says Government House visitor centre co-ordinator Heather Mills.

“He was the last of the British-born governors-general. He came from Scotland to New Zealand in 1962 to 1967.

“It wasn’t given to him though by a Maori tribe. It was given to him by a lady called Marjorie Dalrymple.”

Dalrymple was principal of Woodford House, a school for girls in Havelock North, and in 1928 she returned to Scotland.

“She bought this kahu kiwi, as far as we understand, from a sort of shop in Hawke’s Bay. Whether it was a dealer or second-hand shop, we are not quite sure.”

Lady Marjorie gave it to New Zealand’s new governor-general on the eve of his departure from Britain and asked that it be hung in perpetuity in Government House.

About 10 years ago it was found to have suffered insect damage and needed repair. It was hoped that process may reveal more about its provenance, but the Te Papa conservator found few clues as to where it was made.

An ornate border was added after it arrived in Government House and the garment would have likely been made after 1850 because feather cloaks weren’t in use before contact with Europeans.

Mills said Government House has not been in touch with Hawke’s Bay iwi Ngati Kahungunu because so few clues on the cloaks’ provenance exist. It is due to be rested from display and put into storage in the coming years, an opportunity to send feathers away for DNA testing.

But even with the knowledge of where the feathers come from, Government House may still be no closer to unravelling its mystery.

Photo caption – No one knows the origins of the kiwi feather cloak.
Photo/Patrick O’Sullivan