29th June 2009 This really is a truly outstanding collection of Maori artifacts - for anybody interested in Maori material culture it is certainly worth the journey (don't be put off by the location, or the venue)
There is a real breadth to the range of items in the collection and (this museum is not trying to be Te Papa) the collection is out there to be seen by the visitor
The Maori and Colonial Museum originally started as the private collection of a local resident. Open to the public, over many years the collection of artefacts grew, until in 1968 the old cheese factory building was purchased to re-house and display exhibits. In 1977 it was made a public museum. The site has steadily grown to house many historic remnants of the region. These include a working blacksmith's shop, a print shop, many old horse-drawn gigs and carts and a saddlery. Slab stables and a slab cottage made of large adzed slabs from totara logs, have been reconstructed on the site. The Meeting House was built observing all Maori traditions and tapu (sacred), using original materials from other meeting houses with most of the carving being done by John Rua, a well known New Zealand master carver. The Maori artefact building houses some of the rarer objects that the museum owns. These include a sacred god stick dating back to the year 1400, a war canoe dating back to 1867 and a valuable Akaroa hei tiki recovered in England and brought back to Okains Bay by the museum's founder. For any eqnuiries please phone (03) 304-8611.
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29th June 2009 This really is a truly outstanding collection of Maori artifacts - for anybody interested in Maori material culture it is certainly worth the journey (don't be put off by the location, or the venue)
There is a real breadth to the range of items in the collection and (this museum is not trying to be Te Papa) the collection is out there to be seen by the visitor
This really is a truly outstanding collection of Maori artifacts - for anybody interested in Maori material culture it is certainly worth the journey (don't be put off by the location, or the venue)
There is a real breadth to the range of items in the collection and (this museum is not trying to be Te Papa) the collection is out there to be seen by the visitor