Taumata-a-Iwi
Auckland War Memorial Museum is governed by the Auckland Museum Trust Board. The Board´s duties, functions and powers, and its responsibilities to ten statutory objectives are set out in the Auckland War Memorial Museum Act 1996. Paramount amongst its responsibilities is the trusteeship and guardianship of the Museum, and its extensive collections of treasures and scientific materials.
The Museum´s Act also provides for a Maori Committee known as the Taumata-a-Iwi. The Taumata-a-Iwi is founded upon the principle of mana whenua (customary authority of and over ancestral land), and comprises Ngati Whatua, Ngati Paoa and Tainui.
The Taumata-a-Iwi is responsible for the provision of advice and assistance to the Trust Board in a series of matters set out in the Act. The Taumata-a-Iwi acts in a trustee role in representing the interests of Maori and advising the Trust Board on matters of custodial policy and guardianship of taonga (Maori ancestral treasures) and any whakapakoko, uru moko and koiwi (indigenous human remains) held by the Museum. They are also required to advise the Trust Board on all Maori cultural aspects concerning Museum´s wahi tapu (shrines, ancestral spaces set apart), staffing, display, visitor, marketing and development policies.
PRINCIPLE I: |
| THE RIGHT TO ADVISE |
The Auckland War Memorial Museum Act 1996 empowers the Taumata-a-Iwi to give advice on all matters of Maori protocol within the Museum and between the Museum and Maori people at large. Museum policies will reflect the aspirations of both Treaty partners by acknowledging that existing and proposed policies will be reviewed by the Taumata-a-Iwi, and recommendations to the Auckland Museum Trust Board will be made accordingly. |
PRINCIPLE II: |
| PARTNERSHIP |
Both the Auckland Museum Trust Board and the Taumata-a-Iwi will act reasonably and in the utmost good faith by observing and encouraging the spirit of partnership and goodwill envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi. The Trust Board recognises the Taumata-a-Iwi’s cultural responsibility to wider Maori regarding any implications of mana Maori (lore of the Maori) as measured by mana whenua and associated obligations of manaakitanga (providing hospitality to visitors) or kaitiakitanga (cultural management and protection of taonga and resources) including Maori cultural, intellectual and commercial property rights, and will seek advice and direction in all such cases as they arise. |
PRINCIPLE III: |
| MAORI EXPECTATIONS |
The Museum recognises the right of all Maori to expect the Taumata-a-Iwi, on their behalf as the recognised kaitiaki of the Museum, to:
(i) monitor the management – custody, care, display, accessibility and development – of their taonga within the Museum
(ii) facilitate repatriation of all whakapakoko, uru moko and koiwi. |
PRINCIPLE IV: |
| ACTIVE PROTECTION |
The Taumata-a-Iwi will provide advice to the Auckland Museum Trust Board, and the Trust Board will protect the Taumata-a-Iwi by ensuring the rights of Maori in the Museum are protected, in kaitiakitanga terms, by:
(i) safeguarding mana whenua and the lore of Maori
(ii) safeguarding the tapu (spiritual restrictions) of the Museum’s war shrines
(iii) providing appropriate management – custody, care, display, accessibility and development – of all taonga
(iv) providing all staff and visitors with a culturally safe environment
(v) taking affirmative action in recruitment, training and educational (primary, secondary and tertiary) programmes, which will lead Maori people into professional careers in New Zealand’s culturally integrated museums. |
PRINCIPLE V: |
| REDRESS FOR PAST MISUNDERSTANDINGS |
The Auckland Museum Trust Board acknowledges that there may be misunderstandings from the past related to taonga that need to be addressed and that there is a responsibility to seek advice from the Taumata-a-Iwi, and to:
(i) objectively explore and assess each example as it comes to light
(ii) put in place practices that minimise and eliminate future needs for redress. |
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Guiding principles for the Trust Board’s relationship with the Taumata-a-iwi
To continue to foster a beneficial relationship as envisaged by the Auckland War Memorial Museum Act 1996, the Trust Board and the Taumata-a-Iwi acknowledge the following: read more... |
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