Tairāwhiti Museum expands team to care for taonga Māori

Taonga Māori held at the Tairāwhiti Museum will be looked after by two more kaitieki Māori as the team has grown.

Maia Keane (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata) and Kataraina Hoko (Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou) have joined the museum as the kaitaunaki kaitieki Māori and will work alongside kaitieki Māori Taharakau Stewart to help care for, share and research taonga Māori at the museum.

Kataraina, Maia and Taharakau recently returned from a Kahui Kaitieki hui in Wellington. Kahui Kaitieki is a network of Māori working in museums and galleries throughout Aotearoa.

Kataraina says the main message she has come home with is “connection”.

“Connection to taonga, to whakapapa, to iwi and to taiao (the natural world),” Kataraina said.

“As kaitaunaki kaitieki Māori I look forward to being a conduit and nurturer for whānau, iwi and hapū to connect with our/their taonga tuku iho,” she said.

This is Kataraina’s first time working in the museum industry but kaitiekitanga isn’t new to her.

“It’s in my blood. Our people have been kaitieki for generations. My values and practices are still the same, only the destination has changed.

“It’s a privilege learning and sharing space with both Taharakau and Eloise (Wallace, museum director). They are very talented and hold a wealth of mātauranga in their respective spaces .But what I’m mostly looking forward to is giving back to those who have planted seeds in my upbringing, those who paved the way forward leaving this space a little richer, mō ngā uri whakatipu.

Maia hopes to develop her ability to identify taonga tuku iho from reading about the techniques and design systems used throughout.

“I’m excited to fill my kete mātauranga. I want my kete overflowing — a kete collection kind of vibe.”

She’s excited to build relationships with her colleagues, the taonga, iwi and the community.

“I also look forward to how the mātauranga that I gain through this role will inform my practice as a contemporary Māori artist.”

Maia has worked part-time at the museum for four years and has a passion for taonga tuku iho since her studies in toi Māori at Toihoukura.

“To now have my own desk at the back with the rest of the team and a full set of keys, I’m stoked.”

Tairāwhiti Museum director Eloise Wallace said they run “pretty lean” with a team of just 11 full-time equivalent roles, “so having Maia and Kataraina join the team will make a big difference to the work they need and want to do here in Tairāwhiti”.

“Maia and Kataraina are employed as part of a broader programme of activity — He Toka Tū — for which we have been supported through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Manatū Taonga Te Tahua Whakamarohi i te Rāngai Ahurea Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund.

“We are very grateful for their support to further develop our capacity and practice coming out of the challenges of the pandemic, and this year, Cyclone Gabrielle,” she said.