Mō Tātou Returns

Above left: Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Mark Solomon with Te Papa Director Michelle Hippolite; above right: the Ngāi Tahu paepae, from left – Charles Crofts, Mark Solomon, Piri Sciascia and Kūkupa Tirikatene.

On August 9, following a weekend of events dedicated to Ngāi Tahutanga, the Mō Tātou exhibition closed. Representatives from each of the 18 papatipu rūnanga joined a few hundred other tribal members to farewell their beloved exhibition. However, Sandi Hinerangi Barr found out it's not exactly the end of Mō Tātou, just the end of its stay at Te Papa.

The Mō Tātou exhibition at the country's national museum put the face of Ngāi Tahu in front of New Zealand. That's the sentiment from Charles Crofts, who heads the Ngāi Tahu Iwi Steering Group. In fact, over the past three years it was a face that was seen daily by 750 people. In total, that's more than 800,000 visitors.

The exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the first major survey of Ngāi Tahu taonga and art. Pieces included some of the earliest taonga found anywhere in New Zealand, such as the rock art.

TE KARAKA caught up with exhibition curator Megan Tamati- Quennell (Ngāi Tahu, Te Āti Awa) a few days before Mō Tātou was due to close. On reflection, she described the experience of working on her own tribe's display as being one of the most important exhibitions she feels she will curate.

"The opportunity has also allowed me to grow as a curator and learn a lot about our history, culture and artistic practice. It has been amazing.

"I think the exhibition at Te Papa made people outside of Ngāi Tahu realise that the tribe is not just an economic force, which is what we are often seen as through the settlement and investments, but that we are also a cultural force, which has existed for a long time that has a history attached to it," says Tamati-Quennell. She and the Iwi Steering Group (ISG) are preparing Mō Tātou for its second life as a touring exhibition to Te Waipounamu, starting in early 2010.

Crofts says the exhibition tour "gives Ngāi Tahu residents in South Island the opportunity to reaffirm their identity. We want as many of our people as possible to see it".

The exhibition uses a thematic approach, with the selection of taonga and artworks including audio-visuals based on four themes that the ISG and Tamati-Quennell positioned as cultural characteristics of the tribe.

The four themes were toitū te iwi (culture), toitū te rangatiratanga (tenacity), toitū te ao tūroa (sustainability) and toitū te pae tawhiti (innovation).


The Mō Tātou exhibition in its final days at Te Papa in Wellington.

Tamati-Quennell says the themes allowed the iwi to represent themselves both historically and in modernity and to include both contemporary artworks and ancient taonga.

She believes Mō Tātou has set a benchmark for iwi exhibitions at Te Papa.

"The show was a good show but did not try to be the definitive story of Ngāi Tahu. It couldn't be. It is an aspect of who we are and is limited in the fact that it can only show who we are and where we are in particular point in time ... If the show was done again in 10 years, the taonga might be the same but our response might be different."

Aspects of the touring show have been reworked. Some new contemporary works have been added and other taonga and artworks have been taken out of the show because they needed to be returned to the owners and lenders or were not available to travel. The popular papatipu rūnanga wall will instead be represented more minimally by the three Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu pepehā that speak of Ngāi Tahu Whānui's connection to the whenua of the south along with Mark Adams photographs of different aspects of the takiwā. Some taonga that did feature on the rūnanga wall in the Te Papa show will be absorbed into different sections of the exhibition.

The rūnanga wall has been disassembled to give space to the local hapū to display their taonga and showcase what they want to alongside the exhibition. It is also an opportunity for local Ngāi Tahu to engage with local museums "that hold much of our taonga, to strengthen those relationships and reconnect with our taonga held there," says Tamati-Quennell.

Koa Mantell from Moeraki is a member of the ISG and has always been keen on Ngāi Tahu engaging with Mō Tātou.

Moeraki rūnanga members have travelled twice to Wellington to enjoy Mō Tātou, each time discovering something new – and they've had the privilege of viewing taonga that are not on public display. "We see all these beautiful woven garments which were made by our tīpuna from Moeraki, all from home," say Mantell. "We've got to be excited. By taking it down south it gives us the chance to learn more about ourselves."

Tamati-Quennell, based at Te Papa, is sad to see the exhibition dismantled, but says she'll miss the contact with the Ngāi Tahu kaumātua resident at Te Papa much more. Both tāua, Maruhaeremuri Stirling and Te Whe Phillips, lived next door to her in a central Wellington flat.

"The taonga always move me but it's the people that kept them warm ... we love them. They're extraordinary! My mother rang to see if my son and I will be all right when they go," she says with a laugh. "To me, they (kaumātua) carried the mauri of the show once it was opened and for the three years it has been here. It has been a huge privilege to have them around."

Pōua Kūkupa Tirikatene, Tāua Maru and Tāua Te Whe were given the onerous responsibility of being the Māori kaumātua for Te Papa while Mō Tātou was on display.

I think the exhibition at Te Papa made people outside of Ngāi Tahu realise that the tribe is not just an economic force ... but that we are also a cultural force ..."

Megan Tamati-Quennell Te Papa Curator, Mō Tātou

Tāua Te Whe replaced Tāua Maru as the female kaumātua when Tāua Maru returned home for health reasons. She was a reluctant starter but the Rāpaki tāua says she ended up loving every minute of it.

"We went to all the conferences at Te Papa for the Police, NIWA and all the parties," says Tāua Te Whe. "We opened and closed the Monet exhibition, mixed with royalty and parliamentarians. We travelled to America for the opening ceremony of the whale exhibition. It's been an absolute honour."

Tāua Te Whe and Tāua Maru were Te Papa's kaikaranga and Pōua Kūkupa was expected to recite karakia and deliver speeches for a wide range of events. They were also an integral part of Te Papa's leadership team.

Left to right: Maruhaeremuri Stirling, Kūkupa Tirikatene, Te Whe Phillips, Whetu Moataane and Māori Party MP Rahui Katene, model in the Pikihuia fashion show, which was one of the Mō Tātou closing events at Te Papa.

We went to all the conferences at Te Papa for the Police, NIWA and all the parties. We opened and closed the Monet exhibition, mixed with royalty and parliamentarians. We travelled to America for the opening ceremony of the whale exhibition. It's been an absolute honour.

Tāua Te Whe Phillips, Ngāi Tahu kaumātua resident at Te Papa for Mō Tātou

Pōua Kūkupa found the experience "challenging and scary". "I had about 20 karakia I used to recite before I got to Te Papa but this role has added another dimension. Every pōwhiri is special for those people involved so I did screeds of research for each opening and closing so I could include specific references in my karakia and whaikōrero."

At the closing, Pōua Kūkupa reminded everyone that he had been working at Te Papa for exactly three years, two months and three days. It was an extended period during which he sold his house in Auckland. Tāua Te Whe has since returned to her much-loved garden at Rāpaki and Pōua Kūkupa has gone to live in a new home in Auckland and continues to act as a part-time kaumātua for the Manukau Institute of Technology.

Mō Tātou is expected to open at Canterbury Museum in February next year. It will then travel to the Southland Museum in June and will have its final stop, it is hoped, in Otago.