This week is the inaugural Tokelau Language Week (29 October – 4 November). The theme is Ke mau ki pale o Tokelau: Hold fast to the treasures of Tokelau. To celebrate, the Pacific Cultures team will post a blog each day highlighting cultural treasures from Tokelau in Te Papa’s collections.Read more

This is our final blog in our series focusing on Niue taoga (treasures) from Te Papa’s collection for Vagahau (Language) Niue Week (6-13 October). In recent times, the katoua, a long club or cleaving club, has become an iconic symbol representing identity and culture for many Niueans. Used in festival andRead more

Welcome to the third blog in our series focusing on Niue taoga (treasures) from Te Papa’s collection for Vagahau (Language) Niue Week (6-13 October). This titi (skirt) was collected in the 1920s by H W Cockerill a telegraphic engineer for the General Post Office who helped install a wireless telephone station onRead more

As part of celebrating Tongan Language Week: Uike Kātonga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga (1-8 September) the Pacific Cultures team are highlighting some of the Tongan items in Te Papa’s collection. Today’s blog is the last of our series. Tongan fangufangu (nose flutes) are beautifully crafted musical instruments. Historically, fangufangu were used to awakenRead more

As part of celebrating Tongan Language Week: Uike Kātonga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga (1-8 September) the Pacific Cultures team are highlighting some of the Tongan items in Te Papa’s collection. This is the  fourth blog in our series. Tongan ngatu also known as tapa cloth is an important part of Tongan art and tradition. TeRead more

Yellow dress with flower embroidery

To celebrate Cook Islands language week, the Pacific Cultures team are blogging about collection items from the Cook Islands. Here, Safua Akeli talks about the mu’umu’u (dress) worn in the Cook Islands. These mu’umu’u (dress) are part of a number of dresses acquired by the Pacific Cultures collection in 2009 from Tepaeru Tereora. Tereora was theRead more

These battle shields from Chimbu (Simbu) in the Papua New Guinea Highlands were collected by a New Zealand couple who spent nearly a decade teaching in the country until their return to New Zealand in 2009. The shields are significant for their cultural value and use in warfare among theRead more

To celebrate le vaiaso o le gagana Sāmoa (Sāmoan language week) the Pacific Cultures curators are highlighting stories related to cultural treasures from Sāmoa. Selu la‘au or selu pau as it is commonly known, were ornamental carved wooden combs made from the late 1800s using metal tools. A variety ofRead more

Malifa handbook; FE010588; Te Papa

To celebrate le vaiaso o le gagana Sāmoa (Sāmoan language week) I have decided to draw attention to a small handbook which was gifted to the museum in 1954. The front cover of this handbook indicates that it was presented to Mr and Mrs D A J Rutherford in 1936.Read more