Earlier this year we welcomed Ngāti Toa Rangatira into Te Papa to fill our iwi gallery and to be our iwi in residence for two-and-a-half years. Together with iwi leadership from Ngāti Toa and Te Papa, the exhibition Whiti Te Rā! The Story of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, and a host ofRead more
Something I will never forget is having once witnessed the making of fire using the traditional hika ahi or ‘fire plough’ method. This was about 9 or 10 years ago during a toki making wānanga held out at Hongoeka Marae, Plimmerton. Those of us present looked on with a senseRead more
Peek into wild landscapes. Hear Dame Suzie Moncrieff talk about the secrets behind the creative spectacle that is a World of WearableArt™ show. See Matariki performances from the stars of tomorrow. Te Papa’s Channel, launched this week, brings you into the heart of Te Papa’s multimedia collection. Now you canRead more
Having trouble pronouncing kupu Māori? Many people are so afraid of giving it a go, they would much rather just give it a miss. Believe me I understand. There are words in other languages I avoid using for that very reason! For example, the scientific name for the manu below is HimantopusRead more
Kia ora koutou Last month I gave a talk at a TedX conference in Tauranga where I discussed some of the research I’ve undertaken as part of our exhibition development project here for an exhibition about Gallipoli (due to open April next year at Te Papa). I’ve been very busy assemblingRead more
Māori Language Week 2014! To celebrate the Te Papa Education team offered teachers something new, as 37 teachers from all over Wellington, ranging from ECE to intermediate school, joined together to grow and support Te Reo Māori in the classroom. We played a range of kēmu to get the blood and the brain pumping,Read more
There has been an awesome collaborative project happening in StoryPlace as part of our Matariki programme! The response has been absolutely huge! With kaitiakitanga (guardianship) as our theme for 2014, we wanted to give tamariki (children) and their whānau (family and friends) the opportunity to acknowledge, discuss and share the role they playRead more
In honour of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, here are a number of kupu Māori (Māori words) that I constantly use in my everyday mahi/work as a curator at Te Papa, and especially in my research for the First World War exhibition we are presently developing. Many of the sources written inRead more
For many of New Zealand’s indigenous plants, the Māori name is the ‘common’ name, and English names are rarely, if ever, used; think rimu, tōtara, kauri, pōhutukawa, and mamaku. Other species have both Māori and English names, but it is the latter that is predominant, at least in my experience.Read more
By Riah King-Wall, intern Kia ora – I’m Riah King-Wall, and for the past five weeks I’ve been digging into some of the fascinating bits and pieces housed within the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Here on placement from the Master of Museum and Heritage Studies programme atRead more
Recent work on Ohinau Island, Coromandel reinforced for me how fine the boundary is between the sciences. We were working on the biology of shearwaters nesting at an important historical site for Ngati Hei, an iwi from the eastern Coromandel. The island has been inhabited in the past, and wasRead more
Kia ora koutou. The exhibition opening and celebratory weekend was amazing. Thank you to all the many people of Ngāti Toa Rangatira who helped make this day happen. Also our acknowledgements to our past iwi in residence, and all those who came to the dawn opening, travelling from far and wide. There wereRead more
For those of us working with the taonga Māori collections at Te Papa our work can sometimes also be a personal experience as we connect with taonga associated with the activities of our own ancestors and with places of cultural significance to our own people. It has been a littleRead more
The final days for the exhibition installation is upon us. Progress has been moving along at a steady pace, as all the structural build, lighting, graphics, technological services, audio visual testing, instalment of cases and taonga are taking place. The development of the exhibition began about 19 monthsRead more
Whiti Te Rā! The Story of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, the next iwi exhibition at Te Papa, is opening on the 14th June. As we work up to the final two weeks before opening, it’s time to catch our breath for a minute and appreciate the hard work and talentRead more
