Māori Land Court ruling puts ancient waka excavation decision in Cabinet's hands

Cabinet must decide whether to fund excavating a double-hulled waka on Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands, carbon-dated to 1440–1470. The Māori Land Court ruled the entire vessel has been "found" and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage's statutory duty to care for it "cannot be avoided, delegated or postponed." The Ministry had argued its obligations covered only the 750 fragments already recovered — about 10% of the waka.