LEE-ANNE Daniel and Te Muri Turner, eldest daughter of the 12 children of Diggeress and Ted Te Kanawa, looking over the carefully conserved first-ever piupiu made by the late famed weaver when she was just 12-years-old for her friend Nancy Howell, whose initials are beautifully inscribed into the waistband.
TE Kūiti Museum opened its doors on Sunday to two new iwi historical displays, both featuring the history of 13 of the iwi of the region, and that of Te Tokanganui a Noho, Te Kūiti Pā. Kaumatua and cultural advisor Kingi Turner, and Ratana minister Takarei Campbell oversaw the welcoming of about 20 guests into the museum. Waitomo mayor John Robertson and councillors Janene New and Eady Tanirau Manawaiti were also in attendance. The displays feature taonga ranging from historical photographs to exhibits including adzes and greenstone tools to the first and exquisitely woven piupiu created by legendary weaver Diggeress Te Kanawa, gifted to her best friend Nancy Howell when the pair were just 12 years of age. The idea was the brainchild of Te Kūiti Museum trustees Jill Ikin and Lee-Anne Daniel, who spent much of the past few months collating the artefacts and documents that were donated or loaned to make up the exhibition. Highlighting celebrations The first highlights the 150th centenary celebrations of Te Kūiti Pā that will be celebrated on the weekend starting December 2 and is found just inside the front door of the museum, an area Jill said would be kept in future for all current highlighted exhibitions. The second larger display area was in the main room to the side featuring showcases or objects, an interactive television and historical notes throughout the exhibition. The purpose-built showcases have been loaned by Waikato Museum for the next year, while Te Kūiti Museum begins to seek funding for their own, some of which will be designed to have temperature-controlled environments to increase the time span for continued preservation. For some, such as the Kahu Kiwi feather cloak gifted to Gabriel Elliott it is believed back in the early 1900s, are deteriorating and Jill says once New Zealand Textile and Conservator Rangi Te Kanawa has restored it, it is hoped it will have suitable showcasing to preserve it for generations to come. The same applies to Diggeress’s piupiu. “That is deteriorating, so it needs to have a specific environment to preserve it,” Jill said. The museum trustees are hoping once the centenary celebrations are over, a cache of more than 600 photographs of the area that have been handed back to the Pā trustees by Auckland Museum will be available to it to use.
