The Wairoa Museum in Hawkes Bay has put in an official bid to a museum in Scotland for a nineteenth century Māori war flag to be returned to New Zealand.
The Maori war flag currently held at Hawick Museum in Scotland. Photo: Scottish Borders Council / BBC
The flag was confiscated by the Crown after the Battle of Omaruhakeke in 1865 and ended up by being donated to the Hawick Museum in Scotland in 1921 by local artist Tom Scott.
The bid is supported by the descendants of those rangatira who fought in the battle.
The battle was part of the New Zealand Wars which divided many iwi with some siding with the Crown and others fighting for their independence.
One of the descendants who requested the flag be repatriated said its return could be a powerful symbol for the resolution of 160 years of social, economic, political and spiritual turmoil for the Māori people in his rohe.
Members of the Scottish Borders Council would be asked to approve the move.
A sketch of the Battle of Omaruhakeke in 1865. Photo: Wikipedia
