Maori Scholar’s Taonga Seized at Auckland Airport Sparks Calls for Cultural Awareness

A Māori PhD candidate and master carver has spoken out after his taonga — traditional shark tooth earrings — were temporarily seized by biosecurity officials at Auckland Airport, sparking a wider conversation about how border staff treat culturally significant items carried by indigenous travellers.

Tanith Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi, a doctoral student in Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington and an accomplished kaiwhakairo (traditional carver) of Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Te Whānau a Kai, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, and Ngāti Ruapani descent, was returning from Germany when the incident occurred.

He had been in Munich working with the Museum of Five Continents on the repatriation of a pou tokomanawa — a carved meeting-house post — that had been removed from his iwi during the 1890s. On his return through Auckland, he declared the rei mako at the border, as required. What followed left him shaken.

“I was infuriated,” he told RNZ. “I was greatly shamed and embarrassed.”

Officers asked him to remove the earrings and place them on the table, informing him they would be sent to the Department of Conservation to determine whether he could keep them. The rei mako, crafted from shark teeth by tohunga whakairo Tiopira Rauna Jr, carry deep whakapapa — lineage — connecting to historical figures including Te Kani Te Ua, a tohunga and rangatira of Te Whānau a Kai.

“It carries my mana, the person who gave them to me, and all of the whakapapa connected to them,” Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi said. “We didn’t sign up to have our taonga removed from us… to have something of that significance taken and for a government department to decide whether you get it back, that is infuriating.”

The items were returned within approximately ten minutes after a chief quarantine officer determined the relevant exemption applied. Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species — known as CITES — trade in items made from certain shark species is restricted. However, an exemption exists for taonga of New Zealand origin that are carried by a New Zealand resident. That exemption should have been applied from the outset.

Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner for the North, Mike Inglis, confirmed officers had “correctly identified the mako teeth as a restricted item” under CITES, but acknowledged that a taonga exemption exists for items carried by New Zealand residents. He confirmed the agency would “take the opportunity to clarify their processes for officers dealing with passengers carrying taonga and other items of high cultural significance.” He also noted that officers receive “training in tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations, including workshops on the handling of taonga and other culturally significant items.”

MPI formally apologised to Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi following the incident.

He was not satisfied the apology alone was enough. He drew a stark contrast between how his taonga were treated and how other declared items passed through without issue. “I’m coming through with French wines, cheese and chocolate and there’s no problem, but something that belongs to our people has to go through a DOC process,” he said.

He was also critical of the initial plan to mail the items back to him if DOC ruled against their return. “The greatest thing that I really didn’t like was the fact they were going to take them off me in Auckland and then send them back to me in the mail. That’s not the respect that these taonga deserve.”

Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi was careful to distinguish between the individual officers and the system they operate within. “I do not believe the staff themselves are at fault. I believe it is part of a very flawed process.” He described what happened as symptomatic of a broader pattern, pointing to other incidents in which tiripou — traditional walking sticks — had been confiscated at security checkpoints as potential weapons.

“The first thing that came to mind was this is just systemic racism,” he said. “You don’t see people being asked if their diamonds are blood diamonds.”

His experience has renewed debate about how biosecurity and customs processes account for Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and the rights of Māori travellers carrying culturally significant items. Advocates have long argued that existing exemptions are poorly communicated to frontline staff, leaving Māori travellers vulnerable to having treasured ancestral items confiscated or delayed.

Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi said his concern extends well beyond his own situation. “There needs to be greater sensitivity in how indigenous people are treated with their taonga… it’s not just about me.” He was unequivocal about what outcome he wants. “I do not want this to happen again.”

The incident took place against a backdrop of Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi’s work advocating for the return of taonga taken from his iwi during the colonial era. His trip to Germany was itself an act of cultural preservation — working alongside a European institution holding items removed from Aotearoa over a century ago. To then face the prospect of having taonga removed by New Zealand’s own border authorities was, for many in the Māori community, a painful irony.

Biosecurity New Zealand said it would review its processes, but for Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi and others watching the situation, the test will be in what changes are made. The CITES exemption for taonga already exists in law — the problem, it appears, lies in consistent application at the border.

The full report on the incident can be read at RNZ News. Further information about travelling with taonga and New Zealand’s CITES obligations is available through the Department of Conservation.

If you have experienced something similar at the border, or have thoughts on how cultural sensitivity should be embedded in biosecurity practice, share your view in the comments below.