Auckland Museum blog

After settling into Kaikohe on Friday night we were ‘ready’ for an early start and pack in at #Ngapuhi2012. Actually the early start was a bit of challenge but we needed all that time to get our site ready for festival goers at 9am.  Our site is immediately in front of the main stage on a big 10m by 5m site so we were expecting, at the very least, to enjoy the entertainment on stage, however with 40000 visitors expected we were well prepared for a busy day.

Setting up Auckland Museum's site at the Ngāpuhi festival

Tents all set up, and now time to fill them....

Dressing Auckland Museum's site ready for our visitors.

Our site was split into three sections, a technology rich corner with access to the Auckland Museum databases of service men and women (cenotaph), and taonga in our collections (Te Kakano). We also have a website for collecting stories for our new exhibition - Identi-Tee: Tāku Ti-Hāte, Tāku Korero (My Tee-Shirt, My Story). The second section is information about Ngāpuhi related taonga in our collections, and the third section was a family corner where tamariki (children) and parents could make Ngāpuhi taonga related badges. And out in front we set up a çhill out space with umbrellas and bean bags.

The official opening on Saturday morning happened at 9am and while the start was a slow affair the quality and time we spent with people at that time was great.  One of my favourite photo’s from the festival so far was taken on Saturday morning with Jeff Evans and a family searching the cenotaph database for their family members.  What made this photo and the interaction so special was that it was a real inter-generational affair.  Jeff, the Kuia and Kaumatua, and their mokopuna spent a considerable amount of time exploring cenotaph.  The iPads were a bit of a challenge, as was the need to borrow reading glasses, but I am pretty sure that during this exchange Jeff managed to gather some more information to help us build the resources of our database, and to enrich the stories the database has to tell.

Exploring whanau links through Auckland Museum's cenotaph database.

That story was typical of numerous conversations we had on Saturday.  Ngapuhi’s William Mihaka and his whanau members came in to search the cenotaph database, and found an interesting photo of one of their tupuna (apparently they hadn’t seen it before) and they also said they had found some more information and expressed an interest in having them included in our records.  After exploring for a while they left, but clearly spread the word because we had a steady stream of Mihaka’s through our site for the rest of the afternoon. That is one on many similar stories.

Ngapuhi festival was a rich site for gathering information for our new exhibition launching on March 9.  Identi-tee ‘provides an opportunity to test alternative methods of collection development that not only address practical museum concerns, for instance storage and display space, but also increased community participation in collection development and curation. The mass production of T-shirts, combined with the ephemeral nature of their iconography, makes digital collation a more practical alternative to standard museum acquisition practices.’ – Chanel Clarke.  On Saturday we captured 75 people willing to be photographed and tell their story about their tee-shirt.  It was helpful that the Auckland Museum were able to spot a good Tee-Shirt story at about 100m and made contact with the festival goers, and the festival goers seemed to enjoy the experience.

Carlin working the family activity table at #Ngapuhi2012

We also had a steady stream of families doing the activities and it wasn’t just the kids.  The badges were all designs from collections of Ngapuhi descent and they just needed to be coloured in and made.  It is constantly a hot favourite of visitors to our site, and provides a great opportunity to stop and rest for a while, which one family did….for the whole afternoon as they enjoyed the music on our doorstep.

From a technology point of view it all went relatively smoothly, we lost connection to the internet for 30 minutes at one stage and vodafone were helpful resolving that issue, I have made a mental note that blogging from an iPhone is not an easy thing to do, and especially inserting photos.

It was a interesting ride with Alert Taxi yesterday morning as I headed to pick up our car for the second wave of staff going north to Ngāpuhi’s heartland. Mr Edmonds, my driver, was telling his stories of his trips to Northland and connecting back to his family of early settlers. His great, great, great, (great?) Grandfather had helped build the original stone store in Paihia, and also lay the stone for the first printing press! In a round about way he went on to say that his family (from the UK), went on to settle into the community very well…we should expect to see a few of his family up at #Ngapuhi2012. The story evolved and we drove straight pass our stop…….I expect that will be an indication of the festival itself, interesting stories, interesting connections, worthwhile distractions.

Carlin, Jeff and Amelia depart Auckland Museum for the Ngāpuhi Festival

The forecast was excellent for the weekend, but we arrived in the wind and rain and decided that set up would be best deferred to the morning, instead we decided to go and spend some time with the taonga in the Toi Ngāpuhi exhibition. It would be fair to say that our taonga was in some pretty amazing company, surrounding by some of Northlands very talented artists (including our very own Bethany Matai Edmunds). We met two of the artists (Will and Whiu) sitting with the ‘papahou’ on loan from Auckland Museum to keep it company. As we talked he wiped the glass case clean….someone had hongi’d the case. I suspect it was him after observing him sitting so close, and hearing him talk of the priviledge of being able to see it up close and around it.

Dot, Kirk, Jeff, Carlin and Bethany arrive to a wet Kaikohe for Ngāpuhi 2012

We had a lot of conversations about the role of artists and museums to build, value and acknowledge trditional knowledge (matauranga). Allen Wihongi and Bethany Edmunds were busy debating this surrounded by museum taonga and artists exhibition pieces, preparing for the discussion at the wananga later on Saturday.

Discussions between Auckland Museum (Bethany Edmunds), Ngapuhi runanga (Allen Wihongi) and artist Rhonda Halliday

We got our team photo in front of the Atamira, the first time one has been built (up north?) for over a hundred years, and a symbol for this years festival, and then headed to Waitangi/Paihia for our briefing and dinner at Shippies.

I have plenty of photos that capture the moments……

Hongi Hika: A self-carved wooden bust completed on Hongi's first trip to Sydney.

After a lot of preparation our team finally set off to join Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi for their biennial festival in Kaikohe.  Matua Haare Williams, Chanel Clarke, Vasiti Palavi, Nicola Railton and Bethany Edmunds and a selection of Ngāpuhii taonga from Auckland Museum made a historical journey home to the north where the taonga will be displayed as part of the Toi Ngāpuhi exhibition at the festival.   Amongst the taonga at the festival is a beautiful piece of art by Hongi Hika himself, carved in 1816 on his trip to Sydney, and a greenstone mere.

It’s been a long journey getting to this point, and we are certainly looking forward to the next few days when we get to see our taonga at home in in Northland, amongst their iwi, and to hear and see their stories being told.    This is the first time that taonga have traveled North for the festivities, and we hope that by being there we will reinforce and promote the Mana, Matauranga and Tikanga of Ngāpuhi nui tonu, and enjoy a weekend full of entertainment, art, competitions, kapa haka, whanaungatanga, wananga, matauranga, stalls, shopping and plenty of kai.

The forward team have prepared the way  for the festival team that travels up tomorrow.  It was good to wake up this morning to see and hear the media coverage of our taonga loan.  I know Chanel has spent a lot of hours on the phone talking to the media,  RNZ has run a couple of stories, including a small piece on manu korihi news, and the NZ Herald also covered it well.  I also caught up with Vasiti as well this morning and she spoke of the emotional welcome they received as they arrived, and the care and attention they have all received.

The rest of the team tomorrow morning when we can set up our site at the festival in front of the stage.  The weather forecast is good for Saturday and Sunday, so we are all on track.  If you come to the festival come and see us and explore a range of activities we have planned for all the family.  Set the kids a task making badges or doing activities while you find our more about the taonga on loan, or use our cenotaph and te kakano databases to search for family members or taonga related to you.   If you want a bit of fame and have a story to share about your t shirt, why not let us take your photo in your t shirt while you tell us your story….it might even feature in our next exhibition ‘Identi-Tee: My T-Shirt, My Story’ or ‘Identi-Tee: Tāku Tī Hāte, Tāku Kōrero’

Over the next few days we will be blogging from the festival, capturing the atmosphere and the flavour of our historic trip north.  We expect it all to be pretty fast paced at the Festival and this will probably be reflected in the style of our postings……accept our apologies in advance!  If you want to follow us on twitter then look out for the #Ngapuhi2012 handle, and if you are up in Kaikohe come and see us.  The full team will be Bethany, Chanel, Vasiti, Nicola, Jeff, Carlin, Dot, Amelia, Dianne, and myself.

See you at #Ngapuhi2012

Welcome to this week’s preview of Tamaki Paenga Hira, an informative program currently featuring on Maori Television exploring 13 taonga Maori from the Auckland War Memorial Museum collections.

Episode 12: Te Taiaha a Hōne Heke

This week’s show focuses on the life of northern chief and war leader Hōne Heke. Born in or about 1807 at Pakaraka, south of Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands, Heke held considerable authority in the north right up until his eventual defeat at Te Ahuahu in 1845.

Te upoku a te taiaha a Hōne Heke. The head of Hōne Heke's taiaha.

A nephew of Hongi Hika who had led Ngapuhi musket raids south from the Far North in the 1820s, Heke and Tāmati Wāka Nene were instrumental in convincing fellow northern chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 – but only after Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson had assured them that the purpose of the Treaty was primarily to protect Māori land and Māori interests.

Within 5 years, Heke’s dissatisfaction with the British and their increasing disregard of the Treaty of Waitangi drove him to challenge the Crown publically by chopping down the flagstaff at Kororāreka several times in 1844 and 1845.

Warfare was inevitable, and finally broke out when Hōne Heke, Pūmuka and Kawiti led a Māori attack on Kororāreka (Russell) on 11 March 1845. Further battles were fought in the north between Ngapuhi warriors and British troops. Heke’s force held their own in several battles, including the defeat of a mixed force of British army regulars, seamen, marines and European volunteers at Puketutu. He was eventually defeated at Te Ahuahu by a pro-government force of Maori from Hokianga. Heke lived a further 5 years, dying of tuberculosis on 7 August 1850.

The taiaha was gifted to the Auckland Museum by Mr. A Geddes in 1913.

Please note that the taiaha is on display in the Maori Court of the Auckland Museum.

Tamaki Paenga Hira, Episode 12: Te Taiaha a Hōne Heke screened on Maori Television, Wednesday 4th January 2012 at 8.30.

Poster calling for protests agains the US Invicible's visit to Auckland

In a wee storeroom off the top of a stairwell is the Museum’s collection of ephemera. The array of acid free cardboard boxes contain everything from dance cards to fast food menus. The box that is the subject of this blog is a window into two of the great protest movements in New Zealand’s recent history.

It contains pamphlets from the anti-nuclear protests of the 1970s and 80s, and from the Springbok Tour protests of 1981.

It seems a fitting subject for an end of year blog, given that Time magazine declared “the Protester’ its 2011 person of the year (yes, they still use the singular).

Nearly every right we enjoy today, from the right of women to vote through to equality before the law came through people who stood up and demanded change. People who protested, who argued and who mobilised.

A nuclear warhead heads for NZ

New Zealand’s anti-nuclear protests gathered intensity during the 1970s. Visits by nuclear capable US navy ships brought thousands out to demonstrate their opposition to nuclear weapons. It was a time when the annihilation of life on Earth felt imminent. It seemed an exchange of warheads between the two great Cold War superpowers, Russia and the United States, could be precipitated at any momemnt by an accident or geopolitical incident spiralling out of control.

New Zealander’s anti-nuclear campaign culminated in the decision by the then recently elected Labour government to declare New Zealand nuclear free in 1984.

The most divisive protest movement in recent New Zealand history came when the New Zealand Rugby Football Union invited the Springboks to tour in 1981. Opposition was instantaneous. The first protests attempted to dissuade the NZRFU from hosting the Springboks, who were representing the racist apartheid regime of the white South African government.

Handbook for Springbok tour protestors in the north of the country

Protests began well before the Springboks arrived

The NZRFU went ahead with the tour and the protest movement grew and grew. The country came as close to a kind of civil war as was imaginable. The protests culminated at the final test in Auckland’s Eden Park. A pamphlet from that protest informs marchers that there is “no place for dogs, bicycles, babies or WEAPONS”.

Handout for protestors at the Eden Park match, who had been placed in the Biko group

It also tells them to be prepared to manoeuvre

- To jog

- To stop

- To wheel

- To turn on the spot

Which seems fitting advice to anyone who wants to make the world a better place.

Merry Christmas.

When you watch Steve Hathaway’s footage of a giant orca scooping up a stingray by its tail, you are witnessing an underwater exposé. Orcas are not bumbling brutes; they’re nimble creatures with the nous to capture dinner without getting stung.

Steve’s extraordinary footage was also a revelation to Dr Ingrid Visser from the Orca Research Trust and has been viewed by millions. It’s just one of hundreds of underwater encounters that Steve wants to share with the world. ““I’m passionate about the ocean and want to show how incredible New Zealand’s underwater world is. Most people don’t realise how good we have it here, they will be blown away,” enthuses Steve, whose film work is on show in Alain ‘Sharky’ Coasteau’s ‘submarine’ in the Poisoners exhibition.

Steve Hathaw

Underwater cameraman is a niche profession, but Steve is determined to make it pay. “Underwater diving has been my passion since I was a kid, so I’m following my dream to capture the magic of marine life.”

From his base in Snells Beach near Goat Island, Steve has a charter boat rigged for underwater film production and supplies footage for the likes of BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and PBS.

One of his lucky breaks came after filming the dramatic rescue of a stranded Orca, which features Dr Visser and some locals literally shoving the young orca back out to sea and its waiting mother. In between film work, he takes tourists on guided underwater tours, supplying them with edited footage of their experience. He also writes a blog and produces a video blog that links with his articles in NZ Fishing News.

His favourite filming location is the Poor Knight Islands. “The Poor Knights are some of the best diving you can experience anywhere in the world and it’s right on our doorstep. Like all marine reserves they give Kiwis the opportunity to experience a piece of NZ coastline that is as close as what it would have been like when Maori first came to these shores. Without doubt visiting the Poor Knights should go on everybody’s bucket list!”

Steve filming orcas

Steve says filming in New Zealand waters is different to filming in the tropics. “The waters are cooler than the tropics, but with cooler temperatures you get kelp and seaweed, which adds diversity and interest. New Zealand is a stunning place and we can learn so much. We have it so good here and we need to appreciate it and look after it for future generations.”

And his scariest encounter? “I was filming a pod of orca and I was just so absorbed that I was blissfully unaware that the largest one was behind me, playing with my fins. I thought all of the pod had already swum past me, when all of a sudden this huge male orca was right next to my shoulder eyeballing me! It felt like my heart had jumped into my head, and it took a couple of minutes for my heart rate to drop”

But like all good camera operators, he kept his cool.  “My favourite part of the day is watching the footage and analysing my shots. Later that day I was shocked that the camera didn’t jump at all when I was filming this experience.”

Welcome to this week’s preview of Tamaki Paenga Hira, an informative program currently featuring on Maori Television exploring 13 taonga Maori from the Auckland War Memorial Museum collections.

Episode 11: Nga Pou Whakarae

This week we are introduced to the three tribes who hold mana whenua in the Auckland region. Three carved pou (ancestral carved posts), two from the Museum’s collections and the third commissioned for the exhibition, are used to represent the tribes.

(L-R) The 3 representing Ngati Whatua O Orakei, Tainui and Ngati Paoa.

Te Whare o Riri is the pou that represents Ngati Whatua O Orakei. It originally stood at Otakanini Pa in South Kaipara and symbolizes Ngati Whatua O Orakei’s paramount tangata whenua status over Central Auckland, including the land the Auckland Museum stands on.

Although ancestral knowledge has been lost for the pou representing Tainui, the carving style adorning the pou is acknowledged as coming from the Waikato region to the South of Auckland. This pou travelled with the Te Maori exhibition from 1984 to 1987.

The third pou represents Ngati Paoa and was hewn by master carver Tu Karamaene (Pare Hauraki tribes) using stone tools. The pou represents Paoa, whom the tribe is named after, a famous ancestor associated with East Auckland Region.

Please note that the three pou are on display on the first floor of the Auckland Museum in Te Ao Turoa – the Maori Natural History Gallery.

Tamaki Paenga Hira, Episode 11: Nga Pou Whakarae screens on Maori Television, Wednesday 28th December 2011 at 8.30.

Sharon Finn is perched on a ladder adjusting a cockroach that’s got itself twisted around the gilded cage of her chandelier. If you look closer, tiny artifical spiders, wasps, moths, and hornets dangle down from the cage. This fanciful chandelier, with its huge crystals and brass filigree, looks completely at home in the gothic-like domain of Toxica, one of the ‘suspects’ in The Poisoners exhibition at Auckland Museum.

Inside Toxica's boudoir

If Toxica is keen on collecting animals of the stuffed variety, Sharon also has a penchant for “a bit of taxidermy”. She has been known to keep 100-year-old birds and pussycats in the gilded cages of her chandeliers – and Toxica’s majestic owl holds great fascination.

Sharon Finn (yes, wife to Neil) is the creative mind behind Sharondelier, which makes individually handmade chandeliers, jewellery and lady frames. Her work has featured on fashion runways, art galleries, inside the stairwells of private mansions, on stage at music concerts – and now a museum.

The designer, who has recently taken to the stage herself as part of Pajama Club, approaches her craft with a great deal of wit and cunning. “We are into recycling [vintage items]. We buy old chandeliers and pull them apart, especially those with a lot of brass and crystals.” 

Remember Pollyanna and her blindly optimistic ‘Glad Game’?  It’s a memorable moment when she takes apart her Aunt Polly’s chandelier and hangs the crystals all around the window frame so they dance around the room. Exhibition developer Janneen Love says Sharon has spread the joy by giving freely of her time to create the chandelier. As the technician adjusts the lighting in Toxica’s boudoir, the chandelier glows from high up in the ceiling. The magic is already switched on.

Sharon Finn and her chandelier

Welcome to this week’s preview of Tamaki Paenga Hira, an informative program currently featuring on Maori Television exploring 13 taonga Maori from the Auckland War Memorial Museum collections.

Episode 10: Sir Peter Buck’s sword

This week we are introduced to Sir Peter Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa) whose military service sword is held in the Auckland Museum.

Buck was born at Urenui in December 1877 and had a largely European upbringing due to the influence of his father. He excelled through his school years and by 1896 he was attending Te Aute College where he was named dux and passed his medical exams. This entitled him to attend the University of Otago Medical School, where he completed his MB and ChB in 1904, and an MD six years later. He was a keen athlete during this period and he twice became national long jump champion.

In November 1905, after qualifying as a doctor, Buck was appointed as a medical officer to Māori, working under Maui Pomare. One of the features of his time in this position was the successful campaign to improve sanitation in the many rural Māori communities around the country.

In 1909 Buck was asked by Native Minister James Carroll to contest the Northern Māori seat after the sitting MP died suddenly.  Buck accepted and was elected in the subsequent by-election, and he went on to become a member of the Native Affairs Committee. It was during this period that Buck first developed an interest in the Pacific, spending short periods while on leave in both Niue and the Cook Islands as a medical officer. 

The outbreak of World War One saw Buck involved in encouraging Māori to volunteer to serve King and Country, before he himself joined the Māori volunteer contingent as medical officer. He travelled to the Middle East in 1915 and served at Gallipoli, before transferring to the infantry in 1916 where he rose to the rank of major. He was eventually Second-in-Command of the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. It was during this period in the infantry that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, “For distinguished service in the field [in France & Flanders].” He returned to the medical staff in 1918.

Major Peter Buck accompanying Sir Thomas Mackenzie, New Zealand High Commissioner in London, in France during World War I. Photograph taken 9 or 10 September 1917 by Henry Armytage Sanders.

After the war Buck’s interests turned to anthropology, and he worked with ethnographer Elsdon Best to record the culture and music of Māori communities. He later commenced significant field work in the Pacific for the Bishop Museum (located in Hawaii) and eventually became that museum’s Director.

Buck wrote numerous publications during his time at the Bishop Museum, the most popular of which was Vikings of the Sunrise (1938). Buck died in Honolulu in December 1951 and his ashes were laid to rest at Okoki near Urenui in 1954.

Please note that the sword is not currently on display.

Tamaki Paenga Hira, Episode 10: Sir Peter Buck’s Sword screens on Maori Television, Wednesday 21st December 2011 at 8.30.

Road kill. You’ve driven past it, you may have been responsible for it, but you probably haven’t stopped to pick it up and give it false teeth and googly eyes. Andrew Lancaster, on the other hand, has.

Andrew Lancaster's vampire hare, on display in The Poisoners!

An example of his work, a hare with vampire teeth and bloodshot eyes, is on display in the Lab of Madness in The Poisoners! exhibition, which has just opened here at Auckland Museum.

Throughout the almost 11,000 kilometres of New Zealand’s state highways, animals from possums to magpies lie strewn and lifeless. To Andrew Lancaster they are offerings to the art of the taxidermist.

“I live in the country so I drive out the gate and every other morning there is something that’s been hit, possums and rabbits, sometimes ducks.,” Andrew tells me on the phone from the Bay of Plenty.

Andrew learnt taxidermy as a teenager growing up in Yorkshire where he used to help his brother, who was working to become a professional taxidermist.

“You make as small an incision as you can get away with and get everything out that hole. Turn it inside out basically. Preparing the skin for mounting is the hardest part and that’s what I did for my brother.”

One of Andrew's mix and match creations

A baby-dove.... or a dove-baby

But it wasn’t until Andrew moved to New Zealand about 15 years ago that he took up taxidermy as a hobby. “I just thought it was a shame seeing them [road kill] all lying on the road.”

A few years ago he started playing around with the animals, mixing up body parts. “I got a bit tired of doing the everyday natural looking ones and with road kill some parts are badly damaged but there might be a nice pair of wings or legs so I just cut them off.”

He uses an old fashioned method of taxidermy, using wire and woodwool (fine wood shavings), rather than the expanding foam favoured by most modern taxidermists.

Not all his animals are road kill, occasionally hunters will give him animals to mount. And only recently an obliging thrush flew into his workspace, hit the window and landed dead on his bench ready to work on.