Fishing tackle box

This is a wooden box used by fishermen from the Caroline Islands to keep their fishing gear, and other personal items dry while they are at sea. On land, they are used as storage containers in the home, and sometimes presented as gifts and souvenirs to visitors from overseas. This example may be a model made for sale or gifting to tourists.

Construction

A distinctive feature of these boxes is a tightly fitting lid lashed to the base of the box with a cord made from coconut fibre. The cord keeps the lid attached to the box should it be dropped or toppled while at sea.

Origins

One scholar suggests that the manufacture of fishing boxes in Tokelau, which they call tuluma may have originated with Hawaiian castaways wrecked off one of the atolls around 1830. Beautifully crafted boxes with fitting lids were seen in Hawaii from at least the late 1790s, so it is possible that Hawaiian sailors may have passed their skills on to their new hosts (1).

Significance

This wooden box is significant for its association with Frank Corner, a New Zealand diplomat who worked in London as Deputy High Commissioner between 1952 and 1958 and later in the Pacific Islands. In 1961, Corner became New Zealand's Ambassador to the United Nations. He chaired the Trusteeship Council for two years, and served on the United Nations Security Council. Corner was the leading proponent of decolonisation of Pacific territories under New Zealand control, and provided the leading intellectual arguments in favour of decolonisation of Tokelau, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Western Samoa.

Acquisition History

This wooden box is part of a collection donated to Te Papa by Victoria Corner in 2018.

Reference

1.Langdon, R. (1998). Fakaofo's Hawaiian Castaways of 1830 and the Origin of Its Lidded Boxes Called Tuluma. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 107(3), 287-300.