Houses of stories: the whale rider at the American Museum of Natural History

Authors

  • Billie Lythberg Mira Szászy Research Centre, The University of Auckland Business School Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Private Bag 90219, Auckland 1142
  • Jennifer Newell Anthropology Division, American Museum of Natural History Central Park W & 79th St, New York, NY 10024
  • Wayne Ngata Maori Language Commission 34 Monkhouse Street, Tolaga Bay 4077

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29311/mas.v13i2.326

Abstract

In April 2013, fifteen members of the Māori tribal arts group Toi Hauiti travelled to New York to reconnect with their carved wooden ancestor figure, Paikea, at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). They gave educational presentations  to school groups, museum staff and members of the public about Paikea and the whare kōrero , or house of stories, which Paikea had adorned as a gable figure.

Through a discussion anchored in the importance of taonga (ancestral treasures), this paper describes embodied forms of knowledge used by Paikea’s descendants to know him in his absence, and introduce him to diverse audiences. Its foci are: museum education in multicultural contexts; learning by doing through the use of interactive activities; and community outreach and museum education. In addition, it discusses the challenges to protocols and opportunities for learning offered to AMNH staff through this engagement, and examines the impact it had son Toi Hauiti members themselves.

Author Biographies

Billie Lythberg, Mira Szászy Research Centre, The University of Auckland Business School Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Private Bag 90219, Auckland 1142

Billie Lythberg is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland Business School where her interests are indigenous economies and aesthetics, with particular foci on Māori and Tongan arts and literatures and the contexts in which these emerge and are valued and exchanged.

Jennifer Newell, Anthropology Division, American Museum of Natural History Central Park W & 79th St, New York, NY 10024

Jennifer Newell is curator of Pacific Ethnography at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Her particular interests are in material culture and the relationship between Pacific Islanders and their environments. Dr. Newell previously worked in the Oceanic section at the British Museum (2001-2008) and the National Museum of Australia (2008-2012).

Wayne Ngata, Maori Language Commission 34 Monkhouse Street, Tolaga Bay 4077

Wayne Ngata is currently working as a director of research at Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission). He is also a Principal Investigator with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Centre for Research Excellence focused on indigenous research, based at the University of Auckland where he is helping develop digital solutions for indigenous people to connect with their cultural artefacts. As well, he is helping develop models of tribal
development as a research fellow with Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Whakatāne; and 214 is a member of Te Mata o Te Tau, the Academy for Māori Research and Scholarship at Massey University. His area of scholarship is Māori literature, specifically the language of mōteatea (traditional chant).

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Published

01.03.2015

How to Cite

Lythberg, B., Newell, J., & Ngata, W. (2015). Houses of stories: the whale rider at the American Museum of Natural History. Museum & Society, 13(2), 189–214. https://doi.org/10.29311/mas.v13i2.326

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2015): Museum Education Today: creative synergies and pedagogic innovations in multicultural contexts

Section

Articles

License

Copyright remains with the author(s) of the article. This article can be re-used according to the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0  licence.