The star Waitī (Greek: Maia) is associated with all freshwater, and food sources that are sustained by those waters. Curator Mātauranga Māori Matiu Baker talks about a connection to this whetū in our collections.Read more
The star Waitā (Greek: Taygeta) is associated with the ocean, and food sources within it. Assistant Curator Art Hanahiva Rose talks about a connection to this whetū in our collections.Read more
The star Waipunarangi (Greek: Electra) is associated with the rain and water that pools. Learning Specialist Leroy de Thierry talks about a connection to Waipunarangi with a special kind of pākē (rain cape) in our collection.Read more
The star Ururangi (Greek: Merope) is the star associated with the winds. Curator Mātauranga Māori Isaac Te Awa talks about how the start Ururangi connects to taonga in our collection.Read more
The star Tupuānuku (Greek: Pleione) is the star associated with everything that grows within the soil to be harvested or gathered for food. Curator Mātauranga Māori Dougal Austin talks about the connection between the star Tupuānuku and a kō in our collection.Read more
The star Tupuārangi (Greek: Atlas) is associated with everything that grows up in the trees: fruits, berries, and birds. Kaitiaki Taonga Collection Manager Humanities Cameron Woolford talks about the connection of Tupuārangi to taonga in our collections.Read more
The star Matariki (Greek: Alcyone) signifies reflection, hope, our connection to the environment, and the gathering of people. Matariki is also connected to the health and wellbeing of people. Kaitohutohu Rautaki-ā-Iwi Strategic Advisor Iwi Relationships Watene Campbell talks about how te ponga in our collections connects to the whetū (star) Matariki. Read more
The star Pōhutukawa (Greek: Sterope) is the star associated with those who have died. Curator Mātauranga Māori Amber Aranui talks about the whetū Pōhutukawa and remembers those being returned home, and a special person we recently lost from our Te Papa whānau.Read more
Late last year Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington hosted Pūoro Tū, a festival of “adventures in Māori instruments and sounds”. Here, taonga pūoro practitioner and Pūoro Tū organiser Ruby Solly reflects on this six-day celebration of the oro.Read more
Te Papa has approximately 68 tokotoko in our collection representing all time periods, and this year, Mātauranga Māori Curator Isaac Te Awa acquired two more. However, these ones are slightly different from the more common style.Read more
Tapa, or barkcloth, is an important textile in the Pacific. Tapa is made from the beaten inner bark of some plant species, but once the tapa is made then identifying which plant species was used is difficult. Our genetics researcher Lara Shepherd teamed up with Catherine Smith from the University of Otago and colleagues to create a DNA reference database for identifying the plants used to make tapa.Read more
In December 2020, Te Papa botanists Heidi Meudt and Antony Kusabs were in the field with three North Island iwi: Tamakaimoana, Ngāti Porou, and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. Worryingly, their search for rare forget-me-nots was unsuccessful. But their collaborative mahi struck a meaningful chord.Read more
Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin introduces Making Histories – a Te Papa project exploring different experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
In this blog curators Isaac Te Awa and Katie Cooper use objects and photographs from our collection to explore some of the strategies used in the past to produce and preserve food.Read more
Amanda Sykes and Alice Hinton, Master of Museum and Heritage Practice program student at Wellington’s Victoria University, spent three weeks working on a placement at Te Papa’s Research library. Here they describe their work and adventures while here.Read more
