'Stolen from Its People and Wrenched from Its Roots'? A Study of the Crown's 1867 Acquisition of the Rongowhakaata Meeting House Te Hau ki Turanga

<p>Te Hau ki Tūranga is the oldest meeting house in existence. It was built in the early 1840s at Orakaiapu Pā, just south of Gisborne, by Ngāti Kaipoho (a hapū/subtribe of Rongowhakaata) chief Raharuhi Rukupō. In the nineteenth century whare whakairo (carved houses) were significant symbols of chiefly and tribal mana (prestige, control, power). They were ‗carved histories‘, physical embodiments of tribal history and whakapapa (genealogy) representing a link between the living and the dead. In 1867 Native Minister J C Richmond acquired the whare on behalf of the government to augment the collections of the Colonial Museum in Wellington. Over the almost 150 years since the whare arrived in Wellington, the acquisition of Te Hau ki Tūranga has been the subject of three government inquiries and numerous Rongowhakaata requests for its return. It has also been dismantled and re–erected three times and housed in three different museum buildings. At the close of the twentieth century Rongowhakaata submitted a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal for the ‗theft‘ of Te Hau ki Tūranga. Their claim also expressed concerns about the care and management of the whare in the hands of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and its predecessors. This thesis tells the story of Te Hau ki Tūranga from 1867 until the present. It asks: was the whare ‗stolen from its people and wrenched from its roots‘? as Rongowhakaata claim and places the story of Te Hau ki Tūranga in its historical context. It aims to understand the motives and agendas of the characters involved and reach a conclusion as to what most likely happened in 1867. This thesis also breaks new ground by examining the politics surrounding the whare as a museum exhibit and a Treaty of Waitangi claim. Overall this study provides a valuable insight into the history of Crown–Māori relations. It reveals why deep–seated grievances still exist among Māori today and demonstrates the value of the Treaty settlement process as an opportunity for Māori to tell their stories and gain redress for injustices that occurred in the past, but are still being felt in the present.</p>

'Stolen from Its People and Wrenched from Its Roots'? A Study of the Crown's 1867 Acquisition of the Rongowhakaata Meeting House Te Hau ki Turanga

<p>Te Hau ki Tūranga is the oldest meeting house in existence. It was built in the early 1840s at Orakaiapu Pā, just south of Gisborne, by Ngāti Kaipoho (a hapū/subtribe of Rongowhakaata) chief Raharuhi Rukupō. In the nineteenth century whare whakairo (carved houses) were significant symbols of chiefly and tribal mana (prestige, control, power). They were ‗carved histories‘, physical embodiments of tribal history and whakapapa (genealogy) representing a link between the living and the dead. In 1867 Native Minister J C Richmond acquired the whare on behalf of the government to augment the collections of the Colonial Museum in Wellington. Over the almost 150 years since the whare arrived in Wellington, the acquisition of Te Hau ki Tūranga has been the subject of three government inquiries and numerous Rongowhakaata requests for its return. It has also been dismantled and re–erected three times and housed in three different museum buildings. At the close of the twentieth century Rongowhakaata submitted a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal for the ‗theft‘ of Te Hau ki Tūranga. Their claim also expressed concerns about the care and management of the whare in the hands of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and its predecessors. This thesis tells the story of Te Hau ki Tūranga from 1867 until the present. It asks: was the whare ‗stolen from its people and wrenched from its roots‘? as Rongowhakaata claim and places the story of Te Hau ki Tūranga in its historical context. It aims to understand the motives and agendas of the characters involved and reach a conclusion as to what most likely happened in 1867. This thesis also breaks new ground by examining the politics surrounding the whare as a museum exhibit and a Treaty of Waitangi claim. Overall this study provides a valuable insight into the history of Crown–Māori relations. It reveals why deep–seated grievances still exist among Māori today and demonstrates the value of the Treaty settlement process as an opportunity for Māori to tell their stories and gain redress for injustices that occurred in the past, but are still being felt in the present.</p>

Giving and Receiving: A Case Study of the Stowaways Exhibit in Blood, Earth Fire - Whāngai, Whenua Ahi Kā at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

<p>The role that the physical environment of an exhibition plays in the visitor's experience of a museum is a topic that, though increasingly acknowledged in museum studies, has not yet received detailed attention from researchers. The interaction of exhibitor and visitor, in and through exhibitions, can be situated in the wider context of the recent paradigm shirt within museum practice, towards communication with the public and developments in museum theory, which consider the qualitative aspects of the visitor experience as an active dialogue, conversation or a process of meaning-making. This dissertation examines the interactive exhibit Stowaways in the permanent exhibition, Blood, Earth, Fire - Whāngai, Whenua, Ahi Kā, at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. It considers the question 'How does the physical environment affect the meanings that the visitor makes in and after visiting the exhibition?' The study builds on existing New Zealand research, which questioned the gap between exhibition creation and visitor reception. A theoretical framework was constructed from relevant strands of the literature of museum studies, visitor studies and exhibition design. A qualitative approach was employed, in order to examine in detail both the exhibition development process and then how the visitor responded to the exhibition. Several methods were used to conduct the research, such as archival research and interviews with both the museum staff and seven visitors, who came with their families to the exhibit. The findings provide interesting evidence of the complex and deep affect that the built exhibition space can have on the visitor, not just at the time of the visit but long afterwards. This was an affect that rippled out from the individual to their family group and everyday life. This dissertation makes a small but significant contribution to museum studies in New Zealand, through an integrated examination of the production and reception of a museum exhibit, from the perspective of both the visitor and the museum. One of the main conclusions was to re-iterate the important role of exhibition evaluation in facilitating a more complete communication between museum and visitor, by allowing museum professionals to build on the experience of the development process in a way that can inform future practice.</p>

Giving and Receiving: A Case Study of the Stowaways Exhibit in Blood, Earth Fire - Whāngai, Whenua Ahi Kā at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

<p>The role that the physical environment of an exhibition plays in the visitor's experience of a museum is a topic that, though increasingly acknowledged in museum studies, has not yet received detailed attention from researchers. The interaction of exhibitor and visitor, in and through exhibitions, can be situated in the wider context of the recent paradigm shirt within museum practice, towards communication with the public and developments in museum theory, which consider the qualitative aspects of the visitor experience as an active dialogue, conversation or a process of meaning-making. This dissertation examines the interactive exhibit Stowaways in the permanent exhibition, Blood, Earth, Fire - Whāngai, Whenua, Ahi Kā, at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. It considers the question 'How does the physical environment affect the meanings that the visitor makes in and after visiting the exhibition?' The study builds on existing New Zealand research, which questioned the gap between exhibition creation and visitor reception. A theoretical framework was constructed from relevant strands of the literature of museum studies, visitor studies and exhibition design. A qualitative approach was employed, in order to examine in detail both the exhibition development process and then how the visitor responded to the exhibition. Several methods were used to conduct the research, such as archival research and interviews with both the museum staff and seven visitors, who came with their families to the exhibit. The findings provide interesting evidence of the complex and deep affect that the built exhibition space can have on the visitor, not just at the time of the visit but long afterwards. This was an affect that rippled out from the individual to their family group and everyday life. This dissertation makes a small but significant contribution to museum studies in New Zealand, through an integrated examination of the production and reception of a museum exhibit, from the perspective of both the visitor and the museum. One of the main conclusions was to re-iterate the important role of exhibition evaluation in facilitating a more complete communication between museum and visitor, by allowing museum professionals to build on the experience of the development process in a way that can inform future practice.</p>

Explication of "places/museums of conscience" in the context of memory culture

The purpose of the article is to analyze the role and place of “museum of conscience” in modern politics of memory and cultural space. The methodology is based on a comprehensive study of a wide range of museum expositions (interviews, reports, museum projects, reviews of museum collections, etc.) and generalization of the obtained material to identify current trends in the development of "museums of conscience" in the context of memory culture. Scientific novelty. On the example of specific museum research institutions (the Sixth District Museum in Cape Town, the Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, USA), the Museum of Military Childhood in Sarajevo, etc.) for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, their contribution to the process of deeper study of crimes of the past and its reflection in modern politics of memory and cultural space is analyzed. Conclusions: Places of conscience are museums, memorials, and other historical places, which aim not only to preserve memory but also to stimulate people’s conscience. While working with a visitor, they prefer forms that contribute to the involvement of a visitor in discussion and dialogue. The museum exhibit serves as a safe place to discuss sharp issues and reconcile conflicting parties in society. The museum collection and the results of its research are distributed in order to stimulate the human conscience. The task of the museums is not only to preserve the memory about the crimes of the past but also to provide an opportunity for a visitor to establish a connection between this past and today’s struggle for human rights.

“He Fell in and That's How He Became a Fossil!”: Engagement With a Storytelling Exhibit Predicts Families' Explanatory Science Talk During a Museum Visit

Parent-child conversations in everyday interactions may set the stage for children's interest and understanding about science. Studies of family conversations in museums have found links to children's engagement and learning. Stories and narratives about science may spark children's interest in science topics. This study asks whether a museum exhibit that provides opportunities for families to create narratives might encourage families' explanatory science talk throughout the rest of the exhibit. The project focused on the potential impact of a hands-on story-telling exhibit, the “spin browser” embedded within a larger exhibition focused on fossilized mammoth bones—Mammoth Discovery! at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Participants were 83 families with children between 3 and 11 years (mean age 7 years). We coded families' narrative talk (telling stories about the living mammoth or the fossil discovery) and connecting talk (linking the story to other nearby exhibits) while families visited the spin browser, and we also coded families' explanatory science talk at the exhibits that contained authentic fossil bones and replica bones. The parents in families who visited the spin browser (n = 37) were more likely to engage in science talk at the fossil exhibits than those in families who did not visit the spin browser (n = 46). Further, a regression analysis showed that family science talk at the fossil exhibits was predicted by parents' connections talk and children's narrative talk at the spin browser. These findings suggest that families' narratives and stories may provide an entry point for science-related talk, and encourage future study about specific links between storytelling and science understanding.

Negotiating the other: museum exhibition and the construction of heritage in marginalized groups

How heritage messages are conceived and presented at museums, and how people make sense of and debate these messages is an overarching concern of this paper. For the purposes of this report, heritage is defined as the cultural legacy, including tangible and intangible histories and practices, that is handed down from the past within a community, and which is an essential element of an individual's and a community's sense of identity. Museums operate as sites where people experience and learn about their heritage. But a central concern is how these public institutions encompass marginalized groups within this construction of heritage, identity and community. The focal point of those interactions between museums and people is their exhibitions. This essential communicative tool of museums, this media of production and consumption of meaning, is the point of interest for this paper. As the place where the interests of both sides of the communicative exchange converge, exhibitions reveal the tensions within the system, and the process by which changing ideas about heritage and community are negotiated. Exhibits can be seen as texts anchored in the contexts and processes of their production and reception. Or they can be seen as the dialogic space in which a political relationship unfolds. This paper offers insights into how the political nature of communicative practices underlying the production and consumption of museum exhibitions affects the heritage of marginalized groups. How exhibitions come into being - their modes of production - how they communicate as texts and how they are used or read is illuminated, using as a case study a particular museum exhibit about African-Canadians entitled The Underground Railroad: Next Stop Freedom. Developed by the Department of Canadian Heritage to be displayed in Toronto, the exhibit was installed at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2002 and is currently on view at Black Creek Pioneer Village. The research encompasses the circuit of communication as it relates to the conditions surrounding the conceptualizing and negotiation of this exhibition: what is presented, why it is presented, how it is presented, to whom, and how it is received.