The return home 1986-1987
Te Māori returned home to Aotearoa New Zealand after its successful USA tour and was renamed Te Māori – The Return Home.
Hero image: Te Māori hosts, Bessie Walters and Mere Bereton. National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington 1986. Collection Reference: TZP104532. Year: 1986. Credit: TVNZ.
Due to the overwhelming success of Te Māori overseas, it was decided that the exhibition would continue with a nationwide tour.
In August 1985, preparations for the New Zealand tour of Te Māori. A management committee team was established to oversee the organisation of the exhibition, loan agreements were extended, and venues selected.
Te Māori was rebranded Te Māori – Te Hokinga Mai or Te Māori – The Return Home. The New Zealand tour opened at the National Museum in Wellington on the 16 August 1986. It was exhibited in the South Island at Otago Museum in Dunedin and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in Christchurch. Te Māori closed at the Auckland City Art Gallery on September 11, 1987, with over 917,500 people visiting the exhibition.
Live broadcast of dawn ceremony opening 1986 – National Museum, Wellington
Hēnare Te Ua (Ngāti Porou) hosts this live broadcast of the dawn ceremony at the opening of the Te Māori exhibition, at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, August 1986.
The welcome is given by local iwi, Te Āti Awa. Speakers Pumi Taituha and Pateriki Rei also feature in this audio item.
Thumbnail image: Veteran Māori Broadcaster, Hēnare Te Ua. Collection Reference: TZP8387. Year: 1986. Credit: TVNZ, Hēnare Te Ua.
Koha: Te Māori exhibition opening 1987 – Auckland Art Gallery
This 1987 episode of Koha features the dawn exhibition opening of Te Māori at the Auckland Art Gallery led, by Waikato-Tainui tohunga, Hēnare Tūwhāngai. The northern tribes of the Auckland region hosted the exhibition for the following ten weeks.
Monita Delamere, Dame Whina Cooper, Huirangi Waikerepuru and others discuss the spiritual influence of the taonga, and the contribution the exhibition has made to the resurgence of Māori culture and identity.
Collection Reference: TZP367327. Year: 1987. Credit: TVNZ. Hēnare Tūwhāngai, Sir Hirini Moko Mead, Koro Wetere, Pakipaki School, Te whānau o Te Pakipakitanga o Hinetamoa.
Waikaremoana School visit Te Māori exhibition 1986
This film from the TVNZ collection, shows a school group from Waikaremoana visiting the Te Māori exhibition at the National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington in 1986.
Collection Reference: TZP11968. Year: 1986. Credit: TVNZ.
Spot on: Te Māori host – Suzanne Paki
Spot On was a popular New Zealand educational and entertainment show running over 14 years from 1974-1988.
In this 1986 episode, volunteer host, Suzanne Paki takes Spot On presenter Wendy Nuzum through the exhibition at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington. Suzanne shares some of the stories related to the taonga in the exhibition.
Collection Reference: TZP104532. Year: 1986. Credit: TVNZ.
Ngāi Tahu iwi farewell Te Māori 1987
In this 1986 Te Karere news item, the Ngāi Tahu people farewell Te Māori as it travels to its final exhibition venue, the Auckland Art Gallery.
Collection Reference: TZP35633. Year: 1987. Credit: TVNZ.
Te Māori closing – the people say farewell
This 1987 footage shows the final closing of Te Māori exhibition. Hone Kaa presents some of the insights, learnings and experiences gained from the exhibition.
Māori Kaiārahi or hosts speak about their experience welcoming visitors into the popular exhibition and caring for the taonga.
Tamati Reedy (Ngāti Porou), Chairman of the Te Māori Management Committee, extends his thanks to the Māori Queen – Te Atairangi Kaahu, the representatives of the Crown and Government and the corporate sponsors including Mobil and Air New Zealand.
The Bishop of New Zealand performs the concluding prayer, officially closing the Te Māori exhibition.
Collection Reference: TZP85098. Year: 1987. Credit: TVNZ.