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Overview
A taiaha is a hand weapon usually made from hard wood, or sometimes whale bone, and usually about 1.5 metres long. Taiaha have one end carved in the shape of an upoko (head) with a face on each side. The eyes of the two faces see all around, reflecting the alertness of the taiaha exponent. An arero (tongue) protruding from the upoko forms one end of the weapon. The upoko is adorned with a tauri (collar) of feathers and/or dog hair, the tassels of which form the awe. Below this, the tinana (body) provides the grip. The other end of the taiaha has a flat smooth blade, or rau, usually about five to seven centimetres wide, which is the main striking blade.
A symbol of peace
Te Rongotaketake was presented by Ngāti Ira-kai-putahi (Ngāti Ira), of the Wellington-Cooks Strait district, to Ngā Puhi as a maungārongo (symbol of peace) during the Amiowhenua (to encircle the land) expedition of 1820. Amiowhenua was led by the chiefs Taoho and his son Tūwhare (Te Roroa), and the brothers Eruera Maihi Patuone and Tāmati Wāka Nene (Ngāti Hao), from Hokianga. At Kawhia on the west coast of the North Island they joined forces with Ngāti Toa, led by Te Rauparaha and Te Pehi Kupe. The expedition then fought its way south to Wellington where it engaged the Ngāti Ira. A truce was arranged between Ngāti Ira and Ngā Puhi, and Ngāti Ira-kai-pūtahi presented Te Rongotaketake as a symbol of peace. It is likely that Te Rongotaketake was given to Patuone, Nene or Tūwhare, who were the leaders of the Ngā Puhi section of Amiowhenua.
Maori to Pakeha
After the return of Amiowhenua to Hokianga, Te Rongotaketake was given to the Ngāti Hine chief Te Ruki (The Duke) Kawiti (d.1854), who is best known for his role in supporting Hōne Heke during the military opposition to the establishment of European sovereignty in the New Zealand Wars of the 1840s. Kawiti gave Te Rongotaketake to Auckland Police Commissioner James Naughton, again as a symbol of peace, around 1847.
Naughton-Sheehan-Graham
Te Rongotaketake appears to have passed from Naughton to John Sheehan (1844-1885), who in 1872 became the first New Zealand born European elected to Parliament. Sheehan enjoyed good relations with Māori and had close links with the Ngāti Whātua chief, Paora Tuhaere. Sheehan's sister, Elizabeth, married James Bannatyne Graham and it would appear that Te Rongotaketake then passed from Elizabeth to her son George Samuel Graham or possibly from John Sheehan directly to his nephew George.
George Graham deposited Te Rongotaketake on loan in the Auckland Museum in 1919. Te Rongotaketake was retrieved from deposit by Graham's granddaughter in 1947, and purchased at auction by Te Papa in 2002.