45-514: Te Maori (or sometimes Te Māori in modern sources) was a landmark exhibition of Māori art ( taonga ) that toured the United States from 1984 to 1986, and Aotearoa New Zealand from 1986 to 1987 as Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai ('the return home'). Te Māori was the first time Māori art had been exhibited internationally in an art context instead of as part of ethnographic collections. The involvement of tangata whenua and iwi throughout
90-748: A claim with the Waitangi Tribunal concerning the Maunganui block, the Waipoua Forest, Lake Taharoa and surroundings, and the Waimamaku Valley in Northland. A part of the Wai 38 claim related to taonga , in particular: wahi tapu "spiritual places of special significance to tangata whenua", and wakatupapaku (burial chests deposited in ana (caves and crevices)). The Tribunal report delivered on 3 April 1992 found that
135-749: A film Te Māori – Te Hokinga Mai. Museum practice changed to involve Māori in the interpretation and display of their cultural heritage. Museums began embedding a bicultural approach to 'consultation, planning, presentation' and audience engagement with taonga. The museum sector overall started to understand that taonga were more than isolated objects. This model has become an international standard of practice among museums that hold Māori and Pacific works, and has influenced institutions with holdings from other Indigenous communities to repatriate objects and interact with source communities. More Māori started working in museums, and training in specialisations like conservation and curation. Funding for this training with
180-617: A panel of New Zealand judges was set up to select a work to be put forward for the Prize. The winner of the Prize in 1985 was Keri Hulme 's The Bone People . It also influenced the new building of the national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa . Major exhibitions influenced by Te Māori include: September 10th 2024 marked forty years since the opening of Te Māori at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In an interview reflecting on
225-426: A potential barrier to the exhibition, when Taranaki decided to withdraw consent for the inclusion of their taonga in 1983, due to coastal pollution coming from the partly Mobil-owned Motonui synthetic petrol plant. Unlike previous exhibitions and displays of Māori taonga in museums, iwi had to give permission for the artworks to be included, highlighting the difference between museum ownership and authority. This change
270-537: A result the exhibition faced disapproval surrounding a lack of women artists involvement compared to the focus on carving, mostly done by men. The later 1989-1990 exhibition, Taonga Maori: Treasures of the Maori People addressed these concerns by including a more diverse range of taonga and artforms. Further critique highlighted the argument that placing taonga in a Western 'art' context reduced or misrepresented them. American Anthropologist James Clifford suggested this
315-488: A working definition of a ‘taonga-derived work’ as being that: The Tribunal considered which principles applied to whether consent to its use, rather than mere consultation, was necessary where the work was a taonga work, or where the knowledge or information was mātauranga Māori. The word taonga is often used in the Māori names of institutions and organisations that manage historical collections. Many New Zealand museums contain
360-500: Is being challenged and revitalised through a Mātauranga Māori approach which looks at the collection through a Māori lens. Until the late twentieth century museum visitors and staff were unlikely to be Māori, and taonga were interpreted in the light of Western intellectual frameworks. One such example was a museum display of human remains, ‘mokamokai’ (now referred to as toi moko ; preserved heads of Māori, whose faces had been adorned with tā moko ). Displaying human remains of this kind
405-696: The American Federation of Arts raised the idea again, and in 1981 the New Zealand Cabinet approved the exhibition in principle. The Nga Māngai o Te Māori management committee was formed in April 1981 to organise the exhibition. Members of that committee included Sidney Moko Mead , Mina McKenzie and Piri Sciascia . The exhibition was supported by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council with funding from Mobil Oil . Mobil's sponsorship posed
450-673: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York on 10 September 1984. It then travelled to Saint Louis Art Museum (February–May 1985), then to De Young Museum in San Francisco (July–September 1985), and finally to the Field Museum in Chicago (March–June 1986). The opening at the Metropolitan Museum was led by Sonny Waru , a Taranaki leader and a party of 90 elders and artists. During
495-618: The Treaty of Waitangi significant. The current definition differs from the historical one, noted by Hongi Hika as "property procured by the spear" [one could understand this as war booty or defended property] and is now interpreted to mean a wide range of both tangible and intangible possessions, especially items of historical cultural significance. Tangible examples are all sorts of heirlooms and artefacts , land , fisheries , natural resources such as geothermal springs and access to natural resources, such as riparian water rights and access to
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#1732859486867540-710: The riparian zone of rivers or streams. Intangible examples may include language and spiritual beliefs. The concept of taonga can also transcend into general New Zealand culture and non-Māori items; for example, the Ranfurly Shield is recognised as a taonga amongst the New Zealand rugby community. Traditionally taonga represent the tangible and intangible links between Māori people and their ancestors and land. Taonga serve to reaffirm these genealogical connections to people and place known as whakapapa . Taonga serve as genealogical reference markers that help connect
585-573: The American Museum of Natural History there was no doubt that it had made an impression. The audience was already won over even before the performance began. Audiences wanted to touch and experience Māori culture and to learn more. In 1998 Amiria Salmond acknowledged the success of the exhibition for: "the beauty of the pieces on display, and for the way in which indigenous and Euro-American traditions were woven together in fertile co-operation between Maori scholar Sidney Moko Mead and curators from
630-479: The Crown had allowed Te Roroa's taonga to be violated. The Wai 262 claim in the Waitangi Tribunal is a claim of rights in respect of Mātauranga Māori or Māori knowledge in respect of indigenous flora and fauna. The claimants commissioned a report from Professor D. Williams on traditional ecological knowledge , ethnobotany and international and New Zealand law on intellectual property and conservation. On 2 July 2011
675-414: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The objects were treated at once as pieces of fine art, aesthetically refined and masterly in their execution, and as ancestors, material embodiments of relationships between people and the land." The exhibition faced some critique, with commentary pointing out its exclusion of Māori fibre art and weaving, toi raranga. These taonga are typically produced by women, as
720-464: The Māori language, arts and culture, heritage, and the involvement of Māori in the development of New Zealand’s positions on international instruments affecting indigenous rights." The First Chapter of volume 1 (of the full 2 volume report) considers the relationship between taonga works and intellectual property. The Tribunal provides a working definition of a ‘taonga work’ as being that: These working definitions involve concepts which are described by
765-530: The Māori, the sale of frequency management licences under the Radiocommunications Act 1989 would be in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi . The Waitangi Tribunal amalgamated the Wai 26 with the Wai 150 claim, with the final report of the Tribunal recommending that the Crown suspend the radio frequency tender process and proceed to negotiate with the iwi. In November 1996, various members of Te Roroa filed
810-737: The National Museum trialled this method of display, exhibiting taonga from their collections that would be shown in Te Maori at the Academy of Fine Arts. This approach to displaying taonga legitimised them as fine art. A fundamental aspect of Te Māori was the inclusion of tikanga Māori , practices and values guided by Te ao Māori or Māori worldview. This included dawn ceremonies, traditional karakia , speeches in Te reo Māori , waiata and kapa haka , during which some warriors had moko on their faces. Accompanying
855-527: The Te Reo Maori Claim", and as a consequence, the Māori people would be denied their claims for radio frequencies and a television channel. In June 1990 claim Wai 150 was lodged by Sir Graham Latimer on behalf of the New Zealand Maori Council . The claim was in respect of their rangatiratanga over the allocation of radio frequencies; the claim being that in the absence of an agreement with
900-605: The Toi o Tāmaki Auckland City Art Gallery . Te Māori: Te Hokinga Mai closed on 10 September 1987, three years to the day after opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A final celebration event took place in Ngāruawāhia on 12 September 1987. Te Māori was very well received, both at home and abroad. Over 600,000 visited the exhibition at its four American locations. The New Zealand institutions saw 'unprecedented' visitor numbers with 917,500 attending Te Hokinga Mai . This
945-433: The Tribunal as being that, “those who have mana (or, to use treaty terminology, rangatiratanga ) must exercise it in accordance with the values of kaitiakitanga – to act unselfishly, with right mind and heart, and with proper Mana and kaitiakitanga go together as right and responsibility, and that kaitiakitanga responsibility can be understood not only as a cultural principle but as a system of law”. The Tribunal also provide
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#1732859486867990-495: The Tribunal as being: Mauri is having a living essence or spirit. Kaitiaki can be spiritual guardians that exist in non-human form; kaitiaki obligations also exist in the human realm. The related concept is that "Kaitiakitanga is the obligation, arising from the kin relationship, to nurture or care for a person or thing it has a spiritual aspect, encompassing not only an obligation to care for and nurture not only physical well-being but also mauri." Kaitiaki obligations are described by
1035-401: The Tribunal released its report into the Wai 262 claim: "Ko Aotearoa Tēnei" (‘This is Aotearoa’ or ‘This is New Zealand’). "Ko Aotearoa Tēnei" considers more than 20 Government departments and agencies and makes recommendations as to reforms of "laws, policies or practices relating to health, education, science, intellectual property, indigenous flora and fauna, resource management, conservation,
1080-814: The USA tour the Māori participants connected with Indigenous First Nations communities. In San Francisco their taonga were welcomed by baskets by Pomo , Yokuts , Hupa , Yurok and Karok creators. Te Māori continued once the taonga returned to New Zealand in August 1986 as Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai ('The return home'). Starting at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, it then travelled to Otago Museum in Dunedin, Robert McDougall Art Gallery in Christchurch, finishing at
1125-551: The United States was first raised in 1973 by Douglas Newton, Evelyn A. J. Hall and John A Friede from the Metropolitan Museum of Art , alongside Paul Cotton , the New Zealand Consul General in New York. Though the idea was well-received, including by New Zealand Prime Minister Norman Kirk , delays were caused by Kirk's passing and a general lack of funding for the project. In 1979 Douglas Newton and Wilder Green of
1170-539: The exhibition influenced New Zealand media to pay attention to Māori art. In 1984 a Television New Zealand programme Koha – Te Māori, a Cloak of Words by Ray Waru and Ernie Leonard covered the exhibition and featured the kapa haka at the pōwhiri (opening ceremony) lead by Pita Sharples . Two films on Māori art were produced in 1985: Te Māori – A Celebration of the People and their Art by Māori film maker Don Selwyn and Koha – Te Māori Guard, New York. Waru also made
1215-689: The exhibition process had an impact on the development of museum practices in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as globally in regard to Indigenous and source community authority. The exhibition and its subsequent effects on the cultural landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand were considered a milestone in the Māori Renaissance . Since the first contact between Māori and Pākehā , Maori social and cultural objects were traded, taken and collected for inclusion in private collections and museums . Among taonga collected were human remains. Reflective of museums at
1260-554: The impact of Te Maori, cultural adviser Kura Moeahu stated: Te Māori has enabled new knowledge to evolve from out of the taonga, from ancient knowledge, and it continues to create new knowledge. That's what Te Māori has done. Taonga Taonga or taoka (in South Island Māori ) is a Māori-language word that refers to a treasured possession in Māori culture . It lacks a direct translation into English, making its use in
1305-436: The living with their past. The intangible elements of taonga , such as the stories and genealogy that accompany them, are just as important as the object itself. Mina McKenzie described maintaining the connections between tangible objects, intangible properties, place and descendants as 'keeping the taonga warm.' What is deemed to be a taonga has major political, economic and social consequences in New Zealand and has been
1350-614: The prestigious institution of the Met: It did much to make tikanga Māori more acceptable not only to the population at large of Aotearoa but, more importantly, among our own people. Groups of Māori from several iwi travelled with the exhibition to supervise installation and care of the taonga, perform ceremonies, and participate in events. Carvers and weavers were invited to travel from New Zealand to demonstrate their craft at each US venue, including James Rickard, Taparoto Nicholson, Rangi Hetet and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet . Te Māori opened at
1395-594: The profits of the exhibition was recommended by the Te Māori management committee, who established the Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust for this purpose. Mobil, who sponsored Te Māori, also sponsored the Pegasus Prize for literature to promote the works of authors from other countries which would not normally be read by American audiences. The exhibition prompted Mobil to focus on Māori authors and in 1984
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1440-588: The subject of fierce debates as the varying definitions and interpretations have implications for policies regarding such things as intellectual property, genetic engineering and allocation of radio frequency spectrum. Fundamental to taonga are the relationships they exist in, including the people that made or cared for them, the communities they came from, and the ways they are connected to specific aspects of Maori culture. The definition of taonga has potential constitutional significance in New Zealand because of
1485-482: The taonga came from the collections of 12 New Zealand institutions, 51 loaned by Auckland Institute and Museum and 38 from the National Museum (once called Dominion Museum). One came from the collections of the University of Pennsylvania Museum . A centre piece of the exhibition was a Tainui carving, Te Uenuku , noted as one of the oldest carvings in Aotearoa New Zealand, being dated between 1200 and 1500. Te Uenuku
1530-411: The taonga with these practices was described as 'the complete package' by Piri Sciascia , making it clear that the objects were part of a living culture and that Māori were both the artistic and spiritual guardians on their own culture. This was particularly significant because Māori carving involves important cultural ideas around identity, ancestral embodiment and mana . Mead described the effect at
1575-455: The time, these objects were collected, catalogued and displayed ethnographically, misrepresenting Māori and displaying them and their culture as a part of natural history rather than creators of culture that might be exhibited in an artistic context. Tamaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum holds a large collection of Māori taonga which historically followed an ethnographic framework to catalogue and display material culture. This approach
1620-488: The tribal god Uenuku . Korotangi ( bird of sorrow ) is a carving of a bird made in serpentine stone. Some Māori of Tainui allegiance believe that it was brought to the country from Hawaiki in their ancestral waka . A number of claims have been made to the Waitangi Tribunal , relating to the protection of taonga . In June 1985 a claim was lodged asking that the Māori language receive official recognition. It
1665-427: The use of the word in the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi ( Māori : te Tiriti o Waitangi ). The English-language version of the treaty guaranteed the Māori signatories "full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties ". The Māori-language version of the treaty, which the vast majority of the signing parties endorsed (461 of 500 signatures ), used
1710-630: The word taonga to translate the English phrase "other properties". Section 6(e) of the Resource Management Act 1991 mandates decision-makers to "recognise and provide for the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu [sacred sites], and other taonga" as a matter of national importance. Te Uenuku , or simply Uenuku is an important early Māori carving housed at Te Awamutu Museum . Te Uenuku (literally "The rainbow") represents
1755-540: Was a deliberate decision by Māori to raise the international prestige of their culture and push for global recognition of New Zealand. Further questioning included Māori activist Hone Harawira , who saw Te Māori as presenting an outdated view of Māori life, too constrained to the past. Ultimately Te Māori raised the profile of Māori culture not only in Aotearoa New Zealand but globally. Māori utilised this increased respect afforded to their culture to advocate for further progress and changes. The international response to
1800-481: Was almost not included in the expedition because it was considered too fragile to travel, however Maori Queen Te Atairangikaahu decided it needed to be included. The Te Māori exhibition highlighted a movement away from ethnographic treatment of objects. This was reflected in the display of taonga, giving them individual focus through exhibition design features such as spacing and lighting, more closely associated with displays of fine art in art gallery spaces. In 1983,
1845-431: Was estimated to represent visitation from 28% of the total New Zealand population at that time. American press carried the messages that Māori were a living people, and that taonga held spiritual value. Judy Lessing suggested the Te Māori gave Americans a more nuanced view of New Zealand, otherwise widely known in the United States for banning of nuclear-powered vessels . When the Te Māori cultural group performed at
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1890-608: Was popular in Western museums, which Māori found both ‘disappointing’ and ‘culturally insensitive.’ Repatriation processes are now in place in many museums to return these ancestors home to Aotearoa New Zealand. In 1896, Māori activist, Hana Te Hemara , organised the Kakahu Fashion Project, which ran fashion shows with Maori designers alongside the Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai exhibitions in Aotearoa New Zealand . This
1935-510: Was proposed that the language be official for all purposes enabling its use as of right in Parliament, the Courts, Government Departments, local authorities and public bodies. In June 1986, the Waitangi Tribunal received the Wai 26 claim that the Treaty of Waitangi was breached by the Crown proceeding to introduce legislation related to Māori language before the delivery of the Tribunal's "Report on
1980-488: Was seen as an outcome of political and cultural advocacy by Māori since the 1960s. Māori anthropologist, historian and artist Sidney 'Hirini' Moko Mead was appointed co-curator of the exhibition. During the planning process, the objects displayed were intentionally named as 'taonga' by the involved institutions, acknowledging more meaning than the term 'artwork'. Te Māori included 174 taonga , most being whakairo (carved wood) or carved pounamu (greenstone). Majority of
2025-490: Was widely considered a more humanising display and celebration of Māori culture. Outside of a museum context, the Māori renaissance had already begun, driven by leaders including Apirana Ngata and the Māori Women's Welfare League . Many traditional crafts including carving, tukutuku and kowhaiwhai were being revived as well as the taonga of Te reo Māori . The idea of a major exhibition of Māori artworks that would tour
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