Connecting to iwi culture and heritage – finding out what agencies hold, and developing ongoing relationships to ensure discoverability and access to iwi taonga and heritage.
Click here to return to the Te Ara Taonga homepage
Repatriation Programme
https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/about/repatriation
In 2003, the government mandated Te Papa to develop a formal programme for the repatriation of kōiwi and koimi tangata (Māori and Moriori skeletal remains) from international institutions to iwi.
Māori Collection
http://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/what-do-we-hold/film-and-video/taonga-maori-collection
The collection encompasses visual and audio items from around Aotearoa, and covers a range of genres and subjects, including records of karanga, whaikōrero, iwi and hapū histories, pōwhiri, wharenui and marae, kapa haka, Waitangi Day events (dating from 1934), weaving demonstrations, tukutuku, whakairo, and many more.
You can search through the collection yourself, or ask Ngā Taonga staff to show you what they have from your whānau / hapu / iwi.
Resources for Researching Genealogy
https://natlib.govt.nz/researchers/guides/whakapapa
This directs you to resources from the Alexander Turnbull Library and National Library collections, other online resources have also been included for their whakapapa content and relevance.
https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#home
On Tiaki, the Alexander Turnbull Library's catalogue for unpublished collections, you can search Iwi/Hapū:
You can search through the collection yourself, or ask Library staff to show you what they have from your whānau / hapū / iwi.
The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection comprises significant Māori, New Zealand and Pacific texts and materials held by Victoria University of Wellington Library.
Māori and Archives New Zealand
https://archway.archives.govt.nz/
Archway contains descriptions of over 1.5 million records that have been transferred from government agencies
Archives New Zealand is entrusted with the care of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the 1835 Declaration of Northern Chiefs, and thousands of other archives such as Māori Land Court records that are tāonga for Māori. Both the Crown and claimants make extensive use of nineteenth century documents that are regularly cited in claims to the Waitangi Tribunal.
Examples of the types of materials held at Archives New Zealand:
- Archives New Zealand holds the Māori Land Court Minute Books for the whole of New Zealand from 1865-1975. The information in the minute books has been indexed up until 1910, this index is available in our Wellington Reading Room. After this date you will need to know the names, dates and court in which you are interested.
- Census records. Only a select few early regional and Māori census records have survived, for example:
Census of Māori and Moriori, 1864 [ABGP 7532 W4900 1], Māori Census, 1901; 1906; 1911 [MA 23 13*18], Māori Census, 1881 [MA 23 12*17]
- A collection of more than 350,000 aerial photographs. Ranging from 1936 – 2005
You can search through the collection yourself, or ask archives staff to show you what they have from your whānau / hapu / iwi by emailing: [email protected]
Māori Artifacts at Te Papa Tongarewa
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Topic/1702
Collections Online has information on over 500,000 artworks, objects and specimens from Te Papa Tongarewa’s collections, as well as information on people, places, topics, species, and research from our curators.
Research areas
https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/learn/research/our-research-areas/taonga-maori-research
Te Papa Tongarewa’s taonga Māori research informs exhibitions, collection development, popular and scholarly publications, and educational and public programmes. We aim to reconnect people with their tribal taonga and to assist the reclamation of Māori knowledge, language, and customs.
https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/about/contact-us/help-identifying-object-treasure-or-specimen
Te Papa Tongarewa can help identify an object, a treasure, or a specimen.
Te Aka Matua holds over 5,000 individual files on New Zealand and international artists, Te Papa Tongarewa’s exhibitions, and other related subjects. New material is added daily. Each file includes articles, small exhibition catalogues, invitations, and other ephemera.
You can search through the collection yourself, or ask Te Papa Tongarewa staff to show you what they have from your whānau / hapu / iwi.
Sacred sites and ancestral sites
http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list
The New Zealand Heritage Rārangi Kōrero list identifies historical and cultural places that are significant to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Entry on the List is a process that informs landowners and the public about these places, can support their protection, and applications for funding for preservation work. Members of the Tira liaise closely with tāngata whenua and other interested groups when preparing proposals for wāhi tapu, wāhi tapu areas and wāhi tūpuna.
Decisions for entry on the List of wāhi tapu, wāhi tapu areas and wāhi tūpuna are made by the Māori Heritage Council.
You can search through the List yourself, or ask Heritage New Zealand staff to show you what they have from your whānau / hapu / iwi.
Manatū Taonga - telling stories
http://www.28maoribattalion.org.nz/
This site is dedicated to the men who served with New Zealand’s 28th (Māori) Battalion during the Second World War, and to their whānau and friends.
Encyclopaedia of New Zealand is a guide to our peoples, environment, history, culture and society. Te Ara also contains over 3,000 biographies from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/te-tai
Te Tai Treaty Settlement Stories is a large national research project aimed at increasing public understanding of New Zealand’s Treaty settlements and their impact.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-memorials-register
Memorials register with over 1000 memorials
http://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/
The Vietnam War website is the hub for memories of New Zealand and the Vietnam War. It was created as part of the Vietnam War Oral History Project run by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage between 2008 and 2012. Over 150 interviews were recorded between 2008 and 2012 by professional oral historians based around New Zealand. These interviews are archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library's Oral History Centre.
Updated on 14th March 2023