The Te Pahi Medal: Forged in Friendship

This medal is the first official state gift given to a Māori chief by a foreign leader. Yet this national treasure vanished from Aotearoa New Zealand for over 200 years.

Ko te tohutoa tuatahi tēnei a te kāwanatanga ka hoatu ki tētahi rangatira Māori e tētahi amokura nō whenua kē. Heoi, koni atu i te 200 tau ka ngaro atu i Aotearoa.

When | Āhea

19 May 2017 – 29 Apr 2018

Where | Ki hea

Level 4

Cost | Te utu

Free entry

Ages | TE REANGA

All ages

Allow | ME WHAKARITE

10 minutes

Accessibility | E wātea ana ki

wheelchair accessible

Find out more about accessibility at Te Papa

Tippahee: A documentary about the Te Pahi medal

Watch Tippahee – a documentary about the historic and triumphant homecoming of the Te Pahi medal.

I ponitaka te whenua o Te Pahi i te rohe o Rangihoua i Pēwhairangi.

Rārangi wā ki te Tohutoa a Te Pahi

The Te Pahi medal is a taonga of national importance: the first official state gift given to a Māori chief.

Te Pahi Medal, engraved words read 'Presented by Governor King to Tippahee, a Chief of New Zealand, during his visit at Sydney New South Wales January 1806'

A silver slice of Māori history: the Te Pahi medal

The sudden reappearance and subsequent sale by Sotheby’s Australia of the Te Pahi medal in April 2014 was a significant numismatic event. The medal is a unique object in early Australasian colonial history.

The story of the Te Pahi medal

This medal is the first official state gift given to a Māori chief by a foreign leader. Yet this national treasure vanished from Aotearoa New Zealand for over 200 years.