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Māori waka hoe paddle
William Bragge donation 1869; attribution Poverty Bay by one scholar, Cook Strait by another
An eighteenth-century waka hoe
The British Museum records the carved wooden waka hoe numbered Oc.5370, measuring 181.5 centimetres long. Its description notes a decorated blade, red ochre, shark oil and carved details. The museum identifies William Bragge as the donor in 1869.
The provenance is contested in the published museum notes: one scholarly attribution identifies Poverty Bay on stylistic grounds, while another proposes Cook Strait. That disagreement is historically significant. The paddle must not be labelled a confirmed Kāpiti object merely because one interpretation points to Cook Strait.
Research source: www.britishmuseum.org — view record
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