The Tangata Whenua Gallery was redeveloped in 1990 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. For the redevelopment, Otago Museum Curators liaised with local Māori to create a gallery in which all would feel comfortable and welcome. The aim was to tell the stories of the makers and users of the artefacts on display. The Layout
The gallery is structured in the manner of a traditional settlement, or pa. The tumoana kotore panels represent the whare whakairo, with the open ground (marae) in front of it.
The basic concept depicts a canoe, or waka in the middle of the gallery beached upon the shore. Ahead of it lies the whare whakairo, the meeting-house, with the open ground, or marae, in front of it. This design transforms the gallery into an area where one can imagine being greeted by the karanga of a female elder, or offered a challenge, or wero, from a warrior wearing a dogskin cloak and wielding a taiaha.
The Museum works closely with representatives of Ngai Tahu, the southern iwi or tribe, to ensure that displays are culturally appropriate. An appropriate atmosphere has been created for the displays, including the earthy coloured carpet and flax-green coloured walls. As on a marae, the Tangata Whenua (people of the land) stay on the left side of the whare, whilst the visitors, or manuhiri, stay on the right – thus, southern Māori material appears on the left hand side of the hall, northern Māori material on the right.
The Contemporary Gateway
The gateway was carved in 1990 by the Tangata Whenua of Otago, and is testimony to the Māori living culture. Sometimes it is seen as provocative as the carving is high relief and some suggest the colours are not traditional.
The carving depicts stories of southern Māori, notably their arrival in three ancestral canoes: Araiteuru, Takitimu and Uruao, as well as the captains and crew of the waka. One carving depicts the creation of Foveaux Strait, in the form of a warrior pushing apart Stewart Island and South Island; another depicts the creation of the reef off Shag Point.
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