He Maharatanga

As a youngster growing up in Wellington I was already a National Museum regular when Te Maori returned from its US tour. Throughout the exhibition, iwi took turns to hold the paepae at the exhibition and when it came Te Arawa’s time I was excited to join the multitude of cousins, aunties and uncles at the Museum.

My time with Te Maori involved spending a week sitting on the gallery floor next to two waka koiwi – one Waikato and one Ngapuhi – as my mother introduced them to museum visitors. We also had the opportunity to spend part of the week as hunga tiaki for the tauihu of Hinematioro’s waka – a hugely significant time for us as I have a sister named in memory of Hinematioro.

Along with the two kuwaha from our pa at Ohinemutu - Pukaki and Tiki - these taonga made a life-long impression.

Twenty five years on, I’ve been privileged to have directly cared for many of the taonga that were such an inspiration for me at Te Maori and that continue to motivate my desire to connect descendants and ancestors in a museum context.

Catherine Jehly