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Museum of New Zealand

Te Papa Tongarewa

Te ao MāoriThe Māori world

Biculturalism. Decolonisation. Mātauranga Māori. Dive into te ao Māori, explore Matariki, brush up on your reo Māori, and learn how the kiwi lost its wings.

The Maramataka | Māori calendar

The maramataka is a planting and fishing monthly almanac. For most iwi, the lunar months begin with the new moon (Whiro), but for others it begins with the full moon (Rākaunui). The start of each month is aligned to the morning rising of particular stars.

The Treaty of Waitangi

It is celebrated and argued over. It contains contradictions, and yet it offers clarity. It has a rocky past, but it is providing New Zealanders with new ways forward. It is the Treaty of Waitangi – this nation’s founding agreement.

Matariki: The Māori New Year

Learn all about Matariki and see our events. Matariki is a time to gather with family and friends to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future.

Te Marae o Te Papa Tongarewa: Rongomaraeroa

Rongomaraeroa is a unique marae (meeting place) within Aotearoa New Zealand. Like all marae, it is founded on Māori principles of kawa (marae protocol) and tikanga (cultural practices) it was created for our unique museum context as a contemporary marae acknowledging the whakapapa (ancestral history) and the taonga (treasures) of all peoples who call Aotearoa New Zealand home.

Māori language at Te Papa

Articles, quizzes, events, and activity books to celebrate and learn about te Reo Māori.

‘Museums are dangerous places’ – challenging history

How do museums learn to tell the truth about what they hold in order to become “decolonised archives”?

He Paki Taonga i a Māui

'He Paki Taonga i a Māui' is a series of 18 short films for tamariki aged 7-11, and tells stories about taonga in Te Papa's collection.

Tales from Te Papa Episode 80: Picture Perfect Dolls

Bessie Murray made these beautiful dolls to support her family. Riria uncovers her attention to detail in portraying the Māori women she saw down at the local store.

Tūhoe country: Colin McCahon and his Te Urewera paintings

Mātauranga Māori curator Matariki Williams (Tūhoe, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Hauiti) dives into a series of paintings by Colin McCahon, commissioned by the Urewera National Park Board in the 1970s.

Is there a culture of exclusion in museums?

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.

Haka: Te Taiao

The haka Te Taiao acknowledges that each of us are kaitiaki of Aotearoa New Zealand, and that we all have a role to play in protecting and nurturing te taiao.

Digitising Theo Schoon’s photographs of Māori rock art

Intern Tim Fortescue-Willis has spent the last six weeks cataloguing and digitising Theo Schoon’s photographs of Māori rock art. Tim describes his journey working with these negatives and reflects on what he’s learnt about Theo Schoon during his time at Te Papa.

Why a jacket from a fictional gang is in the national museum

In 2017, a jacket worn by the fictional gang Toa Aoteoroa entered the national collection, history curator Stephanie Gibson tells us why.

Finding a painting in a landscape: locating the site of ‘Waterfall in Dusky Bay with Maori canoe’

In April 2019, Te Papa acquired a rare, early oil painting by William Hodges, artist on Captain Cook’s second voyage, titled Waterfall in Dusky Bay with Maori Canoe. Here, Te Papa tour host Bill Whelen reflects upon his journeys into Dusky Sound, and finding the exact location of Te Papa’s newly acquired painting.

Māori kakahu (cloaks): When is a korowai not a korowai?

There have been many conversations circulating in the media about Jacinda Ardern wearing a kakahu (cloak) at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Kaitiaki Māori Collection Manager Mark Sykes explains the differences between kahu huruhuru, kahu kiwi, kahu kuri, and korowai.

Decolonise or indigenise: moving towards sovereign spaces and the Māorification of New Zealand museology

Sustainable indigenised practice in colonial museum models – is there such a thing? Kaihāpai Mātauranga Māori | Head of Mātauranga Māori Puawai Cairns explores this question in this adaptation of a speech given in 2019.

Te ao Māori: The synergy between women and the land

Iwi development manager Migoto Eria looks at the relationship between Heretaunga chief Hēnare Tōmoana and his wife Ākenehi Pātoka, who signed the suffrage petition in 1893, and reflects on the synergy between wahine (women) and whenua (land).

Rongowhakaata

Articles, video, and more about Gisborne iwi Rongowhakaata, whose exhibition Ko Rongowhakaata: The Story of Light and Shadow was on display at Te Papa 2017–2022.

Rongowhakaata: Borrowing from iwi to build the exhibition

Loans and Acquisitions Advisor Amy Cosgrove sheds light on the process behind 'Ko Rongowhakaata: The Story of Light and Shadow', as well as revealing an ‘average’ day.

Tāmoko | Māori tattoos: history, practice, and meanings

Discover the history and practice of tāmoko, and find out why the lines of a moko carved in skin represent much more than a tattoo.

Māori musical instruments

Read about different taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments) and discover what their original purposes were.

Pūmuka’s flag

Gifted to Northland chief Pūmuka by James Busby in 1834, Pūmuka’s flag was present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and is a national treasure. Find out more about this important taonga and the conservation process to allow it to be displayed safely.

Tamatea ‘Dusky Sound’ revisited

Mātauranga Māori curator Dougal Austin offers an indigenous perspective on first contact between Māori and Cook's men in Tamatea (Dusky Sound).

Traditional Māori food gathering

Before the arrival of metal tools and the gun, Māori used natural resources to make tools for hunting, fishing, eeling, and cultivating crops.

Māori gardening tools

Traditionally, Māori were essentially an agricultural people, with a large portion of their time and attention being given to cultivation.

Rongoā Māori

Rongoā Māori is the traditional Māori healing system. Ailments are treated in a holistic manner.

Māori potatoes

Taewa (or rīwai) is a collective name for the varieties of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) cultivated by Māori.

Watch: The 'Ka Mate' Haka performed by Ngāti Toa Rangatira

To open the exhibition Whiti Te Rā! The story of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, members of the iwi performed their Ka Mate haka.

Commemorate, celebrate: Waitangi Day in Aotearoa

Mātauranga Māori curator Matariki Williams asks us to ignore the negative noise around Waitangi Day, to enjoy the inclusive and communal experience, and celebrate the diversity that makes Aotearoa so beautiful.

Feather identification in kākahu | feather cloaks

Te Papa’s bicultural researcher Hokimate Harwood brought her extensive feather identification skills to a community of 30 weavers and bird enthusiasts.

Māori weaving

Learn about the goddess of te whare pora (the house of weaving) and the different types of weaving that are important in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Kupe Sites: A photographic journey

A thousand years ago, the great voyager Kupe made an epic journey from the eastern Pacific across the ocean to a new land. Learn about the stories of his arrival in Aotearoa.