Stories of our land ensure we stay connected

Matau / Fish Hook, Ebbett collection, collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi, 740, [2204]

While most are winding down towards the end of the year, the team at MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri are beavering away behind the scenes putting together our last exhibition for 2023. Currently installing curved walls to cradle each story within the display space, I can start to see the shape of the exhibition – moved from paper design to reality within the gallery.

Team members are working on creating mounts to carefully hold each taonga in place, showing them at their best while providing protection and ensuring they will be safe on display. Label and text translations, along with graphic design work are being refined and will soon be ready to put on the walls. Video editing is also happening, so you can hear and see people tell you the stories as well as read them. Working right up to ‘the wire’ Pūrākau o Te Whenua/Stories of the Land will open on Saturday 23 December.

Exploring stories behind place names and from locations around the region, this exhibition grounds us, literally, in our whenua/landa. From classic legends that many people already know, such as Rongokako/Te Mata Peak to, possibly lesser known stories, such as Moumoukai/Wasted Food, you will get a taste of the unique stories of Te Matau-a-Māui. Understanding the significance and meaning behind the place names and stories around us provides a deeper connection to place and an appreciation of the rohe/region in which we live and the whenua upon which we stand.

Having the privilege of working at MTG, I learn something new every day and there’s always so much more to know. There are definitely some new stories I didn’t know before in this display. As always, I’m continually awed and humbled by the generosity with which the community share their knowledge with us. Pūrākau o Te Whenua is another such example, with Ngāti Kahungunu across the rohe sharing stories of the places they call home. There are often a number of versions of any one story and we acknowledge that these can all be valid – perhaps you have your own versions that are different again.

Our whenua is an important and critical resource – which nourishes, protects and sustains us. Earlier in the year Cyclone Gabrielle reminded us in no uncertain terms of the importance of caring for our planet, our country and our home. With the world changing around us, perhaps a stronger sense of connection and responsibility for our land is becoming even more deeply rooted in our psyche. This exhibition provides an opportunity for locals and manuhiri/ visitors to learn more about the beautiful rohe in which we live. With stories from Nuhaka to Hastings we invite you to come and learn more about the whenua where we all live, play and grow.

Published in the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper on 9 December 2023 and written by Laura Vodanovich, Director at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Taonga maori are portals to oral history

Koropepe, Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi

In MTG’s collection there are approximately 6500 taonga Māori.

Lists that read adzes and instruments of greenstone and blackstone.
Of anchors, bailers, boxes and dishes of pumice and stone.
Lists reading combs, cultivators, drills and drill points, eel killers, floats and flutes some made of bone.
Of beaters for flax and fern, of firing lights, of gourds, hooks and carved heads of both wood and stone.
Lists of kete, korowai, and knives, of lighting lamps and lintels.
Lists of mere and matau, mauri stones green and black and mats. There are shawl pins, pendents – pōria, pekapeka, manaia, and koropepe.

Lists reading prows, paddles, rattles, snares and spares – tao, kapere, spades – hapera and kō, sticks, and sinkers, hōanga. Lists of tewhatewha of wood and bone. Of tiki, spinning tops, troughs, tomahawks and trumpets. Of wakahuia, whalebone and so much more. Some of these taonga come with a little bit of history, but most don’t.

For example, an entry reads,
“Patu Paraua – Rauwhiti (glistening blade) is the name of this mere. The bone was brought back from the Auckland Islands when Tapsell and his wife Hine-Korama returned from the whaling station there about 1817. With that bone, Haupapa, Hine’s father made this mere. He used the mere as a weapon in the war party (taua) with Rauparaha when it went by the east coast to Cook Straight and returned by Taranaki 1819. It was also his weapon when Hongi attacked Mokoia in Rotorua Lake in 1822. Haupapa escaped by canoe to Kawaha on the eastern shore of the lake.

When the Ngati Haua attacked Pukeroa (the hospital hill at Rotorua) in 1837 Haupapa still had this mere. The Waikatos were repulsed there. When they attacked the Te Arawas at Te Tumu (Bay of Plenty) Haupapa was slain. The body was recovered by Tapsell with this mere still in his girdle and the body and the mere were buried on Mokoia Island. The mere was taken from there in 1900. It was intended as a present for the Duke of Cornwall but was not given. Since then it was in the possession of the Ngati Tunohopu tribe from who it was obtained”.

Another entry reads,
“Hoeroa – A short one. Its name was “Okawarea”. It was carved by Toari, Takahu’s brother. He was killed through Hongi Hika throwing this hoe-roa at him, being shot at the same time by a warrior of Hongi’s named Tareha, who shot him as he emerged from the gate of the pa. Hence his son’s name, Patu-kuwaha (killed in the gateway). Patu was afterwards killed at Mauinaina in 1821”.

Yet another reads,
“Patu pounamu – a long thin one, very old, by name Taura Poho. It was a mere of Hongi Hika’s hapu – Ngapuhi. It was named after an ancestor of Hongi’s and was made from a block of greenstone obtained by Taura from the Ngati Haua in Waikato. The mere was used by Hongi’s son Hare Hongi who was killed in a battle at Te Ranganui in 1827. It then became the property of Ngati Whatua being in the possession of Murupaenga’s family. There were four generartions from Taura-Poho the maker of the mere to Te Auha, it then passed to Te Hotete, from him to Hongi Hika and from him to Hare Hongi. It was in the possession of Murupaenga in 1824, (died in 1826) of Mihaka Mokoare 1848, of Pita Kena in 1873, of Kereopa in 1908 and of Tuara, from whom it was obtained in 1927”.

Although not always accurate, these taonga with a provenance are portals to an oral history past. The last physical link ki te ao kōhatu they are married to real people and events often leaving behind place names.

Unfortunately without provenance the majority remain pani.

Published in Hawke’s Bay Today on 3 December 2022 and written by Te Hira Henderson, Curator Taonga Maori at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Whakawhanaungatanga: Building relationships

In 2012 MTG Hawke’s Bay received a letter from the Minister of Culture and Heritage stating that Ngāti Pāhauwera wished to establish a formal relationship with MTG Hawke’s Bay. We responded to confirm our willingness to do this.

In July this year, MTG staff were able to take that relationship a step further, meeting a group of about forty Ngāti Pāhauwera kaumatua kānohi ki te kānohi (face-to-face). After calling the group into the MTG’s Ahuriri collection store, our Kaumātua Piri Prentice spoke in welcome.

Six of our Collections Team members had brought out taonga connected to the Ngāti Pāhauwera rohe as well as a selection of the many taonga we care for that do not have known provenance.

Ngāti Pāhauwera visitors admire taonga from the HBMT Ruawharo-Tā-ū-rangi collection.

The MTG Collection Team show the visitors a korowai from the HBMT Ruawharo-Tā-ū-rangi collection.

MTG’s Gail Pope, with visitors and archive highlights from the HBMT Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi collection.

MTG’s Tryphena Cracknell, looks at toki from the HBMT Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi collection with visitors.

For MTG staff, opportunities such as these allow us to enable the relationship between whānau and taonga. As with almost all museums, there will never be enough space to display the entire collection and for the team, this is the way in which we are able to maintain accessibility to the collection, for whānau, hapū and marae groups. We finished off with morning tea and an open invitation to return with more of their whānau.

 

Tryphena Cracknell

Kaitiaki Taonga Māori

August 2014

The Journey Home

Curating MTG Hawke’s Bay’s inaugural taonga Māori exhibition Ūkaipō – ō tātou whakapapa has been a personal journey.

I returned to Hawke’s Bay for this position after 11 years in Wellington, studying and teaching, then editing Māori children’s publications.

There have been a new set of challenges working on research for my own iwi. It becomes a personal responsibility to ensure tikanga is respected as well as producing an exhibition that is of interest and inspirational. I have re-established relationships with those I’ve known throughout my childhood, with the intention that their stories are told appropriately and with respect.

I’m fortunate that I had previous networks in Hawke’s Bay before I even started. My mother was known for her work in the local community. Growing up here has been an advantage. The hapū we have been researching like to know someone’s grown up here and offered their time for the community.

When I go out into the community to talk about what we’re doing it is important to establish your hapū connections first. Make time to talk and stay for a cup of tea. The whānau and kaumātua have been really supportive of what have been doing with Ūkaipō – ō tātou whakapapa. They have been on this journey with us.

It’s been a unique process, and I’m glad that MTG management have been really understanding in allowing Kaitiaki Taonga Māori Tryphena Cracknell, Designer Desna Whaanga-Schollum and myself to maintain these relationships appropriately.

The concept of this exhibition came about quite organically and was one of three proposed concepts. Ūkaipō – ō tātou whakapapa seemed relevant for an opening taonga show and an appropriate opening introduction since the previous taonga exhibition Ngā Tukemata had stood for 22 years. Ūkaipō will be renewed after 12 months.

MTG Hawke’s Bay Curator Taonga Māori Migoto Eria, holds a pou tokomanawa from Tutira. This pou affiliates to Ngāti Hineuru, Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Kurumōkihi, Ngāti Whakaairi, gifted by Mrs J Archer Absolom, collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi, 75/239

People should expect something different with Ūkaipō – ō tātou whakapapa. The approach is relevant to current audiences, is inclusive and aims to accommodate wider age groups. Our point of difference in terms of taonga exhibitions is to remind people of their identity, upbringing and homeground. That is what Ūkaipō is, regardless of age or ethnicity.

What we would like is for our visitors to see themselves in this show, whether that be seeing photos of themselves when they were kids, or hearing their voices or the voices of their mokopuna. Rather than just seeing a carving, they will hear the descendants speaking about it.

The Waiohiki pou tokomanawa (interior carved ancestral posts) which were at the entrance of Ngā Tukemata are significant and identifiable by local hapū. These pou are included in Ūkaipō as it is important that these taonga are accessible to the iwi and the community.

There are two other significant pou tokomanawa going on display, one from Ahuriri and another from Tutira. I remember the Tutira pou very well. When I was young my whānau and I would come and mihi to this pou who is our tipuna and represents the descedants of Tutira. The pou was found in Lake Tutira in the late 19th Century by Guthrie Smith, and came into the museum collection in the late 1970’s.

These taonga have significant mana, and it’s been important to work the show around them. They have such a presence and people expect to see them. This is what Ūkaipō – ō tātou whakapapa is about – identity and whakapapa. This exhibition allows access to taonga and whakapapa, showcasing local stories, featuring local tipuna.

Ūkaipō – ō tātou whakapapa opens to the public on September 21.

– Migoto Eria, Curator Taonga Maori