''Rongomaraeroa'' is the

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

and incorporates a contemporary ''

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

'' (meeting house) ''Te Hono ki Hawaiki''. It is located on the museum's 4th floor overlooking

Wellington harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...

, and was officially opened on 30 November 1997. The design, described as "postmodern", was overseen by Te Papa's inaugural ''kaihautu'' (

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

leader), master carver

Cliff Whiting Clifford Hamilton Whiting (6 May 1936 – 16 July 2017) was a New Zealand artist, teacher and advocate for Māori heritage. Career In 1955, Whiting began teacher training at Wellington Teachers' College where his artistic talents were quickly ...

. As "the only one of its kind expressly built for that purpose in a museum", this marae is "arguably the most prominent embodiment of e Papa'scommitment to

biculturalism Biculturalism in sociology describes the co-existence, to varying degrees, of two originally distinct cultures. Official policy recognizing, fostering, or encouraging biculturalism typically emerges in countries that have emerged from a histo ...

". In October 2020, the Government committed $887,291 from the

Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party. Jones' political career began 2005 New Zealand general election, in 2005 as a l ...

to upgrade the marae and 4 others in the Central Hawke's Bay area, creating 12 jobs.

Purpose and usage

Rongomaraeroa is used for many events, not only as a museum exhibit – it was always intended to be a "'living marae' used for

pōwhiri A pōwhiri (also called a pōhiri or pōwiri in some dialects) is a formal Māori culture, Māori welcoming ceremony onto a marae, involving speeches, cultural performance, singing and finally the ''hongi''. Traditionally, the was a way by whi ...

, functions, and tangi". For example, in May 2017 and July 2018 the marae was the site of ceremonies of repatriation of

and

Moriori The Moriori are the first settlers of the Chatham Islands ( in Moriori language, Moriori; in Māori language, Māori). Moriori are Polynesians who came from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 AD, which was close to the time of the ...

remains – including toi moko – from several European and American institutions. Rongomaraeroa is unique in its ability to serve as the location for such ceremonies as it is a "nationalised, pan-

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

marae". 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". The name also helped to differentiate it as a marae belonging to the museum "with its own special Te Papa kawa rotocols, and not to

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in We ...

– the local

ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,367 (2025). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It is now part of the enlarged E ...

of the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

area. 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...", it is now widely accepted as a genuine marae, "by intention if not by inheritance". Rongomaraeroa is also available for hire from Te Papa for commercial and private events. ''Te Hono ki Hawaiki'' is not to be confused with the traditional wharenui of the

Rongowhakaata Rongowhakaata is a Māori iwi of the Gisborne region of New Zealand. Hapū and marae There are three primary ''hapū'' (subtribes) of Rongowhakaata today: Ngāti Kaipoho, Ngāi Tawhiri and Ngāti Maru. Ngāti Kaipoho Ngāti Kaipoho descend fr ...

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''.

Design

Rongomaraeroa has a usable space of 350m² and can accommodate 250 people. Carvings for the wharenui were made by Whiting using the non-traditional material

medium-density fibreboard Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibre, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming it into panels by applying high tem ...

(MDF) rather than rare native timber. This enabled the forming of unusual and elaborate three-dimensional shapes. Non-traditional colours as well as European, Asian, and Polynesian design references were incorporated in order to include all cultures of contemporary New Zealand. "It reflects the nation's bicultural foundations while embracing everyone. It's innovative in its story-telling and its design... liffextended the boundaries of Māori art by using contemporary materials and resources" stated his successor Arapata Hakiwai in 2013. For example, the wharenui includes a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

shrine featuring a Christian dove, "in order to come up with something that not only Māori could relate to but Europeans as well." Carvings in arches and pillars of ''Te Hono ki Hawaiki'' representing Māori myths and legends include: * The story of Māui slowing the sun depicted on the '' maihi'' rmsof the wharenui. * The story of the creation of the first woman,

Hineahuone Hineahuone ("Earth made Woman") is the first woman in Māori Mythology made by Tāne from the clay native to the mythological location of Kurawaka. She bore a child with Tāne In Māori mythology, Tāne (also called Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Ra ...

, by her father

Tāne Mahuta Tāne Mahuta, also called "God of the Forest", is a giant Agathis australis, kauri tree (''Agathis australis'') in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region, New Zealand. Its age is unknown but is estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years. It ...

the god of the forest, represented in the doorway. * Māui turning his brother-in-law, Irawaru, into a dog. * The story of

Paikea is a notable ancestor who originated in Hawaiki according to Māori tradition. He is particularly known to tribes with origins in the Gisborne District such as , and . is the name assumed by because he was assisted by a whale to survive an ...

the whale rider. * And "the changing relationship between Māori and

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

uropean New Zealandersis 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. File:Maori Meeting House Te Hono ki Hawaiki 3 (31656256231).jpg, Detail of the contemporary carvings by

on the

. File:Stained glass doors Te Papa.jpg, detail of the stained glass door, depicting

Ranginui In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Ran ...

(the sky father). When opened, "it pushes upwards away from the flooring (which depicts

Papatūānuku In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Ran ...

, the earth mother), re-enacting the traditional Māori story of

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

separation." File:Wall of marae, Te Papa (2).jpg,

Tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenu ...

oven panelson the walls. Made by students of Toi Haukura. File:Wall of marae, Te Papa.jpg, Panels on the opposite wall.

Naming

mythology, ''Te Hono ki Hawaiki'' refers to

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

– the original home island of all

Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sout ...

– while ''Rongomaraeroa'' is another name for

Rongo In Māori mythology, Rongo or Rongo-mā-Tāne (also Rongo-hīrea, Rongo-marae-roa, and Rongo-marae-roa-a-Rangi) is a major god (''atua'') of cultivated plants, especially Sweet potato#New Zealand, kūmara, a vital crop. Other crops cultivated ...

, the god of

kūmara The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...

and other cultivated food. ''Rongomaraeroa'' is also the name given to the marae belonging to several

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

ub-tribesof the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

and

Heretaunga Tamatea Heretaunga Tamatea is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. In a 2014 settlement with the government, Heretaunga Tamatea was described as a settling group, including: Ngāi Tahu ki Takapau, Ngāi Tamaterā, Ngāi Te Ao, Ngāi Te Hauapu, Ngāi Te Hurihan ...

iwi along the South-Eastern coastline of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

References

External links

Te Marae
at Te Papa Tongarewa's website {{Coord, 41, 17, 26.32, S, 174, 46, 55.43, E, display=title 1990s architecture in New Zealand Māori culture Museums in Wellington City Marae in New Zealand

Purpose and usage

Design

Naming

See also

References

External links