The design, described as "postmodern",[4] was overseen by Te Papa's inaugural kaihautu (Māori leader), master carver Cliff Whiting.[5] As "the only one of its kind expressly built for that purpose in a museum",[6] this marae is "arguably the most prominent embodiment of [Te Papa's] commitment to biculturalism".[7]
Pōwhiri [welcoming ceremony] for the repatriation of 17 Māori and Moriori ancestral remains at Rongomaraeroa (2018)
Rongomaraeroa is used for many events, not only as a museum exhibit – it was always intended to be a "'living marae' used for pōwhiri, functions, and tangi".[7] For example, in May 2017 and July 2018 the marae was the site of ceremonies of repatriation ofMāori and Moriori remains – including toi moko – from several European and American institutions.[9][10][11] Rongomaraeroa is unique in its ability to serve as the location for such ceremonies as it is a "nationalised, pan-iwi marae".[12] As traditional gathering spaces, marae are always located on the ground. However, given the situation of this one on an upper level of the building, Whiting nicknamed Rongomaraeroa "the marae in the sky".[7] The name also helped to differentiate it as a marae belonging to the museum "with its own special Te Papa kawa [protocols]", and not to Te Āti Awa – the local iwi [tribe] of the Wellington area.[7] Although initially controversial and charged with being a "reappropriation" of complex Māori practices and protocols "...to serve its reconciliatory, bicultural remit, often at the expense of more contested issues such as Māori self-determination...",[4] it is now widely accepted as a genuine marae, "by intention if not by inheritance".[6] Rongomaraeroa is also available for hire from Te Papa for commercial and private events.[13]
Te Hono ki Hawaiki is not to be confused with the traditional wharenui of the Rongowhakaata iwi: Te Hau ki Tūranga. Dating from the 1840s, this is the oldest extant carved meeting house and is on long-term loan to Te Papa. It is displayed in the nearby exhibition of Māori culture Mana Whenua.[14]
Design
Rongomaraeroa has a usable space of 350m² and can accommodate 250 people.[13] Carvings for the wharenui were made by Whiting using the non-traditional material medium-density fibreboard (MDF) rather than rare native timber. This enabled the forming of unusual and elaborate three-dimensional shapes. Non-traditional colours[15] as well as European, Asian, and Polynesian design references were incorporated in order to include all cultures of contemporary New Zealand.[1] "It reflects the nation's bicultural foundations while embracing everyone. It's innovative in its story-telling and its design...[Cliff] extended the boundaries of Māori art by using contemporary materials and resources" stated his successor Arapata Hakiwai in 2013.[16] For example, the wharenui includes a triptych shrine featuring a Christian dove, "in order to come up with something that not only Māori could relate to but Europeans as well."[7]
And "the changing relationship between Māori and Pākehā [European New Zealanders] is portrayed inside the cupboards housed in the poutokomanawa (the central heart post of the meeting house)".
Guests can be ceremonially lead up to the marae space without having to go through other exhibitions which was a design consideration to support pōwhiri.[17]
detail of the stained glass door, depicting Ranginui (the sky father). When opened, "it pushes upwards away from the flooring (which depicts Papatūānuku, the earth mother), re-enacting the traditional Māori story of [their] separation."[3]
In Māori mythology, Te Hono ki Hawaiki refers to Hawaiki – the original home island of all Polynesians – while Rongomaraeroa is another name for Rongo, the god of kūmara and other cultivated food.[18]Rongomaraeroa is also the name given to the marae belonging to several hapū [sub-tribes] of the Ngāti Kahungunu and Heretaunga Tamatea iwi along the South-Eastern coastline of New Zealand's North Island.[19][20]
1 2 "Te Marae". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ. 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
↑ "Our building". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ. 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
1 2 "Function venue: Te Marae". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ. 8 January 2016. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te Taoū, and Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei. The four hapū can act together or separately as independent tribes.
Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori iwi (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston North in the east, and Kaikoura and Hokitika in the south. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of only about 4500. It has four marae: Takapūwāhia and Hongoeka in Porirua City, and Whakatū and Wairau in the north of the South Island. Ngāti Toa's governing body has the name Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira.
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum, located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa, it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand and the National Art Gallery. The 17th-most-visited art gallery in the world, an average of more than 1.5 million people visit every year.
Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east.
Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe of the Waikato tribe of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand. The territory (rohe) of Ngāti Mahuta is the Kawhia and Huntly areas of the Waikato region.
Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including Whakatāne, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te Teko and Matatā. Two urban hapū also exist in Auckland and Wellington.
Ngāti Rongomaiwahine or Rongomaiwahine is a Māori iwi (tribe) traditionally centred in the Māhia Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 4,254 people identified as Rongomaiwahine; by the 2013 census, this has increased to 4,473 people. It is closely connected to the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi.
Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū.
Ngāti Pūkenga is a Māori iwi centred in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Its rohe extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Waihi in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east, and it has tribal holdings in Whangarei, Hauraki and Maketu.
Ngāti Manawa is a Māori iwi of New Zealand.
Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original rohe were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington, and then to the Chatham Islands in the 1830s. The rohe of the iwi include Wharekauri, Te Whanga Lagoon and Waitangi on Chatham Island, and Pitt Island, also part of the Chatham Islands. The principal marae are at Urenui in Taranaki, and on the Chatham Islands.
Ngāti Pūkenga ki Waiau is a Māori iwi of New Zealand.
Ngāti Whare is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It is part of a group of tribes participating in the "treelords" Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the New Zealand government involving Central North Island forestry land and cash.
Rongowhakaata is a Māori iwi of the Gisborne region of New Zealand.
Rangitāne is a Māori iwi (tribe). Their rohe (territory) is in the Manawatū, Horowhenua, Wairarapa and Marlborough areas of New Zealand.
Clifford Hamilton Whiting was a New Zealand Māori artist, heritage advocate and teacher. Whiting was born and raised in Te Kaha, New Zealand, and affiliated to the Te Whānau-ā-Apanui tribe.
Ngāti Rakaipaaka is a Māori hapu (subtribe), from the Nuhaka area of northern Hawke's Bay on New Zealand's North Island. It is a subtribe of Ngāti Kahungunu.
Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō is a Māori iwi (tribe) in the upper South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe include the areas around Golden Bay, Tākaka, Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, Motueka, Nelson and Saint Arnaud, including Taitapu and Kawatiri River catchments and Lakes Rotoiti, Rotoroa, and the Tophouse.
Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in the upper South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe extends from Golden Bay and Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island to Cape Campbell, St Arnaud and Westport.
The Māori people and Moriori people have 773 tribal marae around New Zealand. These grounds usually include a wharenui and are usually affiliated with iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes).
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![The marae (place of encounter) with the central wharenui [meeting house] in Te Papa Pretty Marae (26123038684).jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Pretty_Marae_%2826123038684%29.jpg/525px-Pretty_Marae_%2826123038684%29.jpg)
![Powhiri [welcoming ceremony] for the repatriation of 17 Maori and Moriori ancestral remains at Rongomaraeroa (2018) Te Papa Repatriation ceremony, 13 July 2018 (29564388528).jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Te_Papa_Repatriation_ceremony%2C_13_July_2018_%2829564388528%29.jpg/330px-Te_Papa_Repatriation_ceremony%2C_13_July_2018_%2829564388528%29.jpg)
