Prepare to be challenged when you enter this gallery.

A first in Aotearoa, Māori stories told at this public museum were relayed by tangata whenua - the indigenous people - themselves.

Visitors find themselves nodding in recognition and sadness at the accounts, while others may be shocked and disagree with the history they face.

There's no doubt this gallery Te Takapou Whāriki o Taranaki (The Sacred Woven Mat of Taranaki) will provoke you to think or feel.

Delve deeper into these stories, some of which can be sourced to previously unpublished Māori writings.

Accounts from the past are told using light, sound, and push-button interactives. Words projected on to the floor, lead visitors along a path of wisdom.

Past black pipe palisades you will find a rich collection of taonga - the treasures unique to Taranaki and the world. 

Among these is a cloak, known as a topuni huru kurī, believed to be the only one in existence made completely from Māori dogskins.

Having such a fine collection of these works is considered a coup for Puke Ariki.

There is a collection of exquisite Taranaki carvings.

Many are from Te Atiawa Iwi, famous for producing master carvers.
Even a waka prow associated with Te Atiawa paramount chief Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitāke.

This gallery is filled with taonga, many touched by the hands of famous Māori leaders like Te Whiti o Rongomai and Titokowaru. Also on display are some of the gifts they have presented to others in thanks.

Included is a piupiu (flax skirt) given to nurse Ann Evans, in gratitude for the six weeks' medical care she gave to great chief Titokowaru while he was suffering from pneumonia. He eventually died from the illness.

See the adze that helped carve the Tokomaru waka;
the anchor stone of that same canoe 
and the remarkable stone carving considered one of the most significant taonga by curators of the Te Maori Exhibition.
 

All here at Puke Ariki in Te Takapou Whāriki o Taranaki Gallery. 

 

Supported by PKW