Our last taonga is not just an object, but a sacred place, and an "encyclopedia" of the history, traditions and art and culture of the people of Rongowhakaata.

We've come to the end of the series and to mark it, we have chosen a taonga that represents a vital link between New Zealand's past and future.

Te Hau ki Tūranga is a historic whare whakairo, or carved meeting house, and is the oldest of its kind - dating back to the 1840s.

It's a beautiful structure, completed by a master carver in the Tūranga style, but it's also special because of the community and people it belongs to - the Gisborne iwi of Rongowhakaata - and their ancestors.

But due to its forced confiscation in 1867, this whare whakairo is also a reminder of New Zealand's complicated and often fraught history, as well as our ongoing efforts to face up to the injustices of the past and make amends.

Te Papa Kaihautū (Māori co-leader), Dr Arapata Hakiwai, who is of Rongowhakaata descent, says he visits the whare at the museum almost every day.

"I greet my ancestors and say, you know, 'continue to look after us' and to say...'we have our people working here and they're working with you'...

"Our ancestors would have slept in here. We have had the descendants here sleep in the meeting house as part of the process when it was brought to this museum in the late 1990s."

Te Hau ki Tūranga was confiscated by the Crown in 1867 by then Minister of Native Affairs and Acting Director of the Colonial Museum, James Richmond.

"The language has been described - and it's so apt - it was ripped from the heart and roots, the umbilical cord really, wrenched from the heart of Ōrākaiapu pā," Hakiwai says.

It was dismantled on site at Ōrākaiapu pā with the help of government troops and rebuilt at the Colonial Museum - one of the predecessors of Te Papa.

Te Papa says the Colonial Museum was one of the first buildings constructed for the government after the capital city moved from Auckland to Wellington in 1865.

"It was loaded on the government steamer, the Sturt, and it was taken and even in the discussions in Parliament after that time there was great glee in recording the taking of this meeting house," says Hakiwai.

The government apologised for the forcible removal of the whare in 2012, acknowledging the ownership of Rongowhakaata.

Jody Wyllie has whakapapa to Rongowhakaata and is the iwi's lead negotiator in discussions with the Crown about the future of Te Hau ki Tūranga.

He compares Te Hau ki Tūranga to an encyclopedia - albeit an encyclopedia that he says has had "its spine torn out" with its pages out of order…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details