A rediscovered taurapa from Thomas Kendall’s 1823 Marianna consignment of whakairo rākau (Māori wood carvings)

The last unaccounted-for whakairo rākau (Māori wood carving) from an 1823 consignment of eight sent to London from the Bay of Islands by the missionary Thomas Kendall has now been located in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The rediscovery of this taurapa (sternpost) from a waka taua (war canoe) completes research undertaken to establish the whereabouts of the consignment. The taurapa’s identification also sheds new light on the role of Tungaroa, a high-born woman from Rangihoua, as the probable interpreter of the whakairo rākau for Kendall.