Remembering Tā Hekenukumaingaiwi Puhipi Busby
2019-05-15
Te Papa mourns the loss of a beacon for mātauranga Māori, Tā Hekenukumaingaiwi (usually shortened to Hekenukumai) Puhipi Busby, known affectionately as Hek.Read more
Is there a culture of exclusion in museums?
2019-05-07
Puawai Cairns, Kaihāpai Mātauranga Māori | Head of Mātauranga Māori, looks at the nuances of language and how ‘diversity denial’ can exclude the communities you’re trying to embrace.Read more
Te Hēmanawa Olive Temara (10 Feb 1948 – 27 Feb 2019)
2019-03-01
This week Te Papa lost a very significant former kaimahi | staff member, Hema Temara (Tūhoe, 10 Feb 1948 – 27 Feb 2019), who passed away in Whakatāne.Read more
Rātana Church and Mita Ririnui: The colours of service
2018-11-08
Today (8 November) is the centenary of the Rātana Church. Puawai Cairns, Kaihāpai Mātauranga Māori | Head of Mātauranga Māori, talks about the robes of an āpotoro rēhita from the church – a uniform with which she have a personal affinity.Read more
‘Museums are dangerous places’ – challenging history
2018-10-19
How do museums learn to tell the truth about what they hold in order to become “decolonised archives”?Read more
Election 2017: A mantle of diplomacy
2017-09-21
In the lead-up to the 2017 General Election, we have linked each of these issues to objects from the collection, or education programmes run by Te Papa. In this post, Acting Head of Mātauranga Māori Puawai Cairns writes about Immigration.Read more
Cliff Whiting: Visionary, innovator, tōhunga, teacher, scholar, master artist
2017-07-20
It is with enormous sadness that Te Papa acknowledges the passing of Cliff Whiting (6 May 1936–16 July 2017).Read more
Collecting Challenging Histories – the ‘Manga Kahu’/‘Maunga Kahu’ (Black Power) T-shirt
2017-05-18
Today is International Museum Day. Mātauranga Māori senior curator Puawai Cairns considers this year’s theme – ‘Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums’ – through the ‘Maunga Kahu’ protest T-shirt.Read more
Collecting the Standing Rock protest and why it’s important
2016-12-13
A protest movement you might have heard about, which I’ve been following closely, is the protest occupation against the North Dakota pipeline at Standing Rock in the United States. The Dakota Access Pipeline (represented online by the hashtag #NODAPL No Dakota Access Pipeline) has prompted protests across the United States asRead more
A tribute to Emeritus Professor Ranginui Joseph Isaac Walker, DCNZM (1 March 1932 – 29 February 2016). Te Whakatōhea
2016-03-02
He poukaiāwhā nō te pātaka iringa kōrero, kua hinga. He ahorangi nō te whare wānanga o te ao hou, kua okioki. He ringa i mau ki te rākau ā te Pākehā hei taokupu titi rawa ki te manawa o te tangata tiriti, kua takoto. E te uri o Muriwai, oRead more
…it won’t be a lonely walk” – commemorating the 40th anniversary of the ‘Not One Acre More’ hīkoi
2015-10-13
The 13th of October marks the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of the ‘Not One Acre More’ hīkoi (land march) on the steps of New Zealand Parliament. The hīkoi, accompanied by vehicles in support, left Te Hāpua at the top of the North Island on the 14 September 1975, andRead more
“Carry on, boys” – The stories of Friday Hawkins and Rikihana Carkeek. Part Two: Rikihana Carkeek
2015-08-07
As part of a series of blog publications about the giants that feature in the exhibition, ’Gallipoli: the scale of our war’, and to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Chunuk Bair, I have been asked to write about the two Māori soldiers who are found in the MachineRead more