Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho #1: Lost in the Colonisation Machine

We meet Khali in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. We’re kicking off the series at Te Papa, the national museum of Aotearoa.
Khali meets Isaac Te Awa, a curator in the taonga Māori collections. Together they check out some early taonga Māori in the collections and talk about how they got to be here in places like Te Papa. Spoiler alert: It usually wasn’t a good story.
Both Isaac and Khali reflect on their relationships to these taonga, and their hopes for how we as te iwi Māori can connect with them. This first chapter of our story is about understanding the basics, about origin stories. It’s also a chance to reflect on how Māori within institutions are slowly guiding taonga back to their people.
Mauri ora!
About Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho:
For a long time, museums and archival institutions have been a place where our taonga have been locked away; disconnected from the places and people whose stories they tell. Often they are hidden away in private and public connections, slowly trying to find the right home again.
And here we are, often desperate to have a relationship with these taonga, with our kōrero tuku iho. But the world of museums and archives isn’t easy to navigate, and sometimes accessing our mātauranga Māori can feel impossible.
Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho is a five-part series looking at the relationships we have as Māori with our taonga today, and with the practice of archiving. How can we gain access to our taonga, how can we breathe new life in these connections, and what do we dream of for the future of taonga care?
This series is directed and produced by Kahu Kutia, and hosted by storyteller and pūoro practitioner Khali Meari.
More info: tepapa.nz/NgaTaongaTukuIho

[@marygallagher3445]

I'm living in Ireland and I'm going home to Christchurch in December after nearly 50 years living overseas finding my Ngai Tahu history

[@leonesamu4330]

brilliant episode, so looking forward to the entire series. Malo lava Isaac and Khali!