Cabinet is deciding whether to pay for the full excavation of an ancient double-hulled waka buried in coastal dunes on Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands, after a Māori Land Court ruling found the Ministry for Culture and Heritage cannot avoid its legal duty to care for the entire vessel, including the sections still underground.

The waka is believed to be Rangihoua, thought to have been part of an early migration from Hawaiki. Carbon dating has placed the wrecked vessel between 1440 and 1470, making it one of the oldest known taonga of its kind in New Zealand history. Woven matting, sail, rope and twine have been recovered among roughly 750 fragments discovered nearly two years ago by the Dix whānau, who own the land. RNZ

Lead archaeologist Dr Justin Maxwell of Sunshine Archaeology has described the find as one of the most significant archaeological discoveries ever made in Aotearoa and the wider Pacific. He believes the recovered fragments represent only about 10 percent of the entire waka, with the remainder still buried and exposed to erosion, storm surges and the risk of permanent loss.

Archaeologists warn that sandbags and other temporary protections are unlikely to save the site from a major storm. They have also cautioned that delaying the excavation, or repeatedly stopping and starting, could cause further damage to what remains.

The funding decision now sits with Cabinet. Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith has said that funding decisions are made by Cabinet as part of the official Budget process and that he cannot make pre-commitments. The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (Manatū Taonga) has said it does not currently have the funding required for a full excavation and the years of conservation work that would follow. RNZ

The Ministry's position on the scope of its obligations has already been tested. Manatū Taonga argued in the Māori Land Court that its legal responsibilities extend only to the pieces already uncovered, not those still buried. The Court ruled against that reading, finding that the entire waka has been "found", including the parts still underground, and that the Ministry's duty under the Protected Objects Act — the law that governs newly found Māori cultural objects — cannot be avoided, delegated or postponed.

Manatū Taonga deputy secretary delivery and investment Glenis Philip-Barbara has said the Ministry has an interim role to care for newly found taonga tūturu (treasured objects) until they are returned to traditional ownership through processes in the Protected Objects Act.

Moriori, Ngāti Mutunga and the Dix whānau argue the waka must be treated as one complete entity. The case for excavation has drawn support from Maxwell, who called funding it "the biggest no-brainer I've ever seen" and said it has the potential to make an enormous contribution to knowledge of how Polynesian voyagers built their waka.

The Ministry's own annual report for 2024/25 references the significant find at Rēkohu Wharekauri Chatham Island, noting it may offer a rare opportunity to deepen understanding of the peopling of New Zealand. Interim radiocarbon dating results were released by Manatū Taonga ahead of the final archaeological report. Ministry for Culture and Heritage Annual Report 2024/25; Manatū Taonga, interim radiocarbon dating results

The discovery is also scheduled to be presented on 27 July 2026 at the International Society of Ethnobiology Congress 2026, where it is framed as relating to data sovereignty and traditional Moriori knowledge. ISE Congress 2026

The broader context here is the tension between the Budget process, which runs on a fixed political timetable, and coastal erosion, which does not. The Māori Land Court ruling has effectively removed the argument that the buried sections of the waka fall outside the Crown's legal care obligations under the Protected Objects Act. That leaves Cabinet as the decision point, not the Ministry. Goldsmith's framing of the decision as a Budget matter follows standard Cabinet process, but it also means the timeline is governed by the fiscal cycle rather than by the condition of the site or the legal direction the Court has already given.

For the iwi and whānau involved, the stakes are cultural as well as archaeological. The waka sits at the intersection of Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga interests on Rēkohu, and the determination that it be treated as a single entity has implications for how taonga tūturu are managed when they straddle the line between discovered and undiscovered. If the Court's reading holds, government agencies dealing with comparable finds in future may find it harder to limit their obligations to what has already been brought to the surface.