The Taonga Files

In this brief we explore the valuable resource of Papers Past, and why this is a must for our research kete.

Papers Past
Niupepa Māori
Trove
Library of Congress
British Newspaper Archive

Glossary
Aotearoa: New Zealand
Niupepa Māori: Māori Newspapers
Te reo Māori: The Māori language
Tupuna: Ancestor
Waiata: Song
Koroua/Koro; Elderly man, grandfather
Whakapapa: Genealogy
Whanaunga: Relative

A single line in an 1865 museum ledger.
A registration number from the wrong century.
A photograph altered to hide everything but a single carving.
This episode dives into the forensic world of provenance research as Amber traces the journey of a tauihu that disappeared inside the museum’s collection. With help from the next generation of museum researchers, and a lot of patient detective work, she uncovers how this taonga — the first ever recorded in the Colonial Museum — slipped into silence, and how it finally found its way back into the light.

Glossary
Atua - ancestor with continuing influence, god, supernatural being, deity
Huaki - washboard of a war canoe
Kōrero - speech, narrative, story, news account, discussion, conversation.
Manaia - stylised figure used in carving
Tauihu - prow or figurehead of a Māori war canoe
Taonga Māori - Māori cultural treasures
Takarangi - double spiral pattern in Māori carving, said to symbolise the revolving heavens.
Te Ao Māori - the Māori world
Waka - canoe

In this ‘brief’, Migoto Eria and Amber Aranui lay the foundations for exploring how taonga shape, and are shaped by, hauora (wellbeing). Grounded in Te Whare Tapa Whā, they reveal taonga not as static museum objects but as living presences that speak, travel, and maintain unbroken lines of whakapapa. The kōrero moves through the emotional and spiritual weight of caring for taonga, the protective force of tikanga like karakia, and the responsibility museums hold to uphold Māori identity and safety, Māori first, employee second. Reflecting on the legacy of Te Māori, they show how reconnecting people and taonga continues to transform hauora across generations.

Links:
Te Whare Tapa Whā

Glossary:
Hauora - be fit, well, healthy, vigorous, in good spirits.
Karanga - formal call, ceremonial call, welcome call, call
Kōiwi - bone, human bone, corpse
Kōrero - to tell, say, speak, read, talk, address.
Kupu - word, vocabulary, saying, talk, message, statement, utterance, lyric
Mahi - to work, do, perform, make, accomplish.
Mauri - life principle, life force, vital essence, a material symbol of a life principle.
Taha Māori - Māori identity, Māori character, Māori side, Māori heritage.
Tikanga - correct procedure, custom, habit, lore, method, manner, rule.
Tūpuna - ancestors.
Wāhine - female, women, feminine.
Waiata - song, chant.
Whakapapa - genealogy, genealogical table, lineage, descent
Whakaaro - thought, opinion, plan, understanding, idea.

The Taonga Files opens with a journey into Aotearoa’s colonial past, tracing the origins of the country’s first national museum and the taonga Māori caught within its early collecting practices. Join curators Amber Aranui and Migoto Eria as they uncover how taonga were catalogued, misplaced, and silenced — and how provenance research today is helping restore their stories, whakapapa, and connections to iwi, hapū, and whānau. A powerful blend of history, detective work, and truth-telling, this episode lays the foundation for a series dedicated to giving voice back to taonga.
Link to Amber's Blog

Glossary
Aotearoa — New Zealand
Hapū — Sub-tribe; a kinship group descended from a common ancestor.
Hāpai Ahurea — “Cultural uplift/support”; Te Papa’s strategic priority centred on Māori communities and cultural practice.
Iwi — Tribe; a large kinship group descended from a founding ancestor.
Mātauranga Māori — Māori knowledge systems; traditional and contemporary Māori ways of understanding the world.
Mana — Spiritual authority, prestige, or power.
Māori — Indigenous people of Aotearoa.
Motu — The country or nation; often meaning “islands” or “the whole country.”
Taonga — Treasures; cultural items, heirlooms, or objects of deep significance.
Taonga Māori — Māori cultural treasures.
Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) — National Museum of New Zealand; “Container of Treasures.”
Te Tiriti o Waitangi — The Treaty of Waitangi (1840), the foundational agreement between Māori and the Crown.
Waka — Canoe
Whakapapa — Genealogy; interconnected relationships between people, land, and taonga.
Whānau — Family; extended family network.
Whenua — Land; also placenta, emphasising the connection between people and the land.

In this Brief, we dig into the meaning of ‘taonga’ from our perspective — what the term holds, how it’s been used, what it means to us, and why it matters for the mahi we do. We also touch on its appearance in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, where Māori were promised tino rangatiratanga over ‘o ratou taonga katoa’ (check out the NZ History link below for a more in-depth look at this). That commitment sits at the heart of our responsibilities today. This Brief sets the foundation for everything else we’ll explore this season.
Links
Te Aka Māori Dictionary
Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Glossary
Kōrero - to tell, say, speak, read, talk.
Kupu - word, vocabulary, saying, talk, message, statement.
Pākehā - English, foreign, European, exotic - introduced from or originating in a foreign country.
Taha Māori - Māori identity, Māori character, Māori side, Māori heritage, Māori ancestry, Māori descent.
Taonga - possession, object, treasured possession, something prized.
Whakapapa - genealogy, lineage, descent.
Te ao Māori - the Māori world.
Te reo Māori - the Māori language.
Wāhi tapu - sacred place, sacred site.
Whakaaro - thought, opinion, plan, understanding, idea, intention.