About this episode:

Well e te whānau, here we are at the final episode of this series, Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho and what a journey it’s been!

In the previous episode, Khali chatted with Amber Aranui about the work of bringing tīpuna and taonga home to Aotearoa, after they’ve been taken overseas.

In this final episode, Khali has one more question. When our taonga are cared for in and amongst the communities that they come from, what does this look like? How is it different from contemporary museum practices? And what tools can whānau use to take taonga care in to their own hands?

We head to Te MatauaMāui, to meet up with an old friend of Khali’s, Waitangi Teepa. Waitangi is working at EIT, as a kaihahu mahara, a memory exhumer, with a significant collection of Ngāti Kahungunu manuscripts. She shares some of her whakaaro around kaitiakitanga.

We also meet Dr David TipeneLeach, a whānau kaitiaki for this collection. Khali asks him what is significant about this collection for him and his whānau.

As we look to the future for our taonga, what are some of the ways we are reconnecting taonga and mātauranga with hapū and iwi? How can we envision care for taonga within a Māori framework? These are some of the things we’re thinking about in this final episode. Khali takes the time to reflect on the journey we’ve taken in this series.

Thanks for joining us along the way. Mauri ora!

About the series:

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 fivepart 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: https://tepapa.nz/NgaTaongaTukuIho