Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa

By Matiu Baker, Katie Cooper, Michael Fitzgerald, and Rebecca Rice

Publication: March 2024
Pages: 480
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-9941460-8-3

RRP: $70

Buy Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmutuenga:

The wars of 1845–72 were described by James Belich as ‘bitter and bloody struggles, as important to New Zealand as were the Civil Wars to England and the United States’. The conflict’s themes of land and sovereignty continue to resonate today.

This richly illustrated book, developed in partnership with iwi, delves into Te Papa’s Mātauranga Māori, History and Art collections to explore taonga and artefacts intimately connected with the key events and players associated with the New Zealand Wars, sparking conversation and debate and shedding new light on our troubled colonial past.

Contributing essays from Basil Keane, Arini Loader, Danny Keenan, Jade Kake, Mike Ross, Paul Meredith, Monty Soutar, Puawai Cairns, and Ria Hall.

Review highlights

• Library Life magazine, reviewed by Paul Diamond. “Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga is a powerful reminder of the important role taonga play in sharing and understanding the history of the wars. … Magisterial and beautifully produced.”

• Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books, reviewed by Hamish Coney. “Te Ata o Tū acts as both a much-needed corrective and fact-based lesson in our own history. … For tangata tiriti and the general reader, amongst whom I hope will be future generations of students, this is a book that demands to be placed on school and university reading lists. … One of the great strengths of Te Ata o Tū is the assiduousness with which the authors have given agency to the Māori originators of items. … Te Ata o Tū arrives at a time when our past is entering a phase of re-contestation at a political level. It is a publication that in an age of ‘alternative facts’ makes concrete the truths these objects carry. Their lessons gather mana in the telling.”

• Heritage New Zealand, reviewed by Anna Knox. “Reading this multi-authored volume …  is not unlike a slow and considered walk through a museum, only with more time to learn the stories and connect to the whakapapa of the taonga on display.”

• Kete Books, reviewed by David Veart. “Often, books of this kind, driven by collections from museums, carry the echoes of the institutions that formed them. This selection, however, transcends its colonial origins literally in ‘The Colonial Museum’ creating a powerful narrative using the artefacts woven together with subtle curation and a strong Māori voice, a voice which doesn't simply murmur ‘ghostly’ echoes from the past but instead speaks truth powerfully into the present. … I started reading Te Ata o Tū anticipating another ‘history in 500 objects’ picture book but have found much, much more. As someone with forebears who fought in these wars this book has provided a more complex framework to make sense of this history.” 

• RNZ Nine to Noon, reviewed by Paul Diamond. “I think Rebecca Rice’s material and Matiu Baker’s material really stands out – Rebecca’s ability to interrogate images, Matiu is able to communicate the complexities of taonga and their significance for descendants. So that’s also what’s lovely in this, that this book represents a whole lot of relationships through time that Te Papa has brokered and which then endure.”

Author interviews

• The Sapling, Maitu Baker, Michael Fitzgerald and Rebecca Rice interview with Frank Wilson.

• NZ Listener (premium content), Colleen Brown writes about collections of war memorabilia and how they have evolved to tell us about ourselves, including the role Te Ata o Tū has played in reinterpreting the wars.

• Radio Waatea, Matiu Baker interview with Dale Husband.

• Te Ao Māori News, coverage of the book launch.

• RNZ Midday Report, Katie Cooper interview with Charlotte Cook.

• RNZ Morning Report Matiu Baker interview with Pokere Paewai.

• NZ Listener, (premium content), the editors discuss some of their favourite taonga from the book.

• Te Karere TVNZ, Matiu Baker and Rebecca Rice interview with Moana Makapelu Lee.

About the authors

Matiu Baker (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakaue) is Curator Mātauranga Māori at Te Papa and has a broad interest in the many areas of Mātauranga Māori. His recent research has included work on Māori photographs and photography of Māori in nineteenth-century New Zealand.

Katie Cooper is Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures at Te Papa. Her research focus is the social and material history of nineteenth-century New Zealand. She has been working to highlight women’s histories in Te Papa’s collections and develop collections that represent the everyday lives of New Zealanders. She is also engaged in ongoing research into the social history of rural New Zealand.

Michael Fitzgerald is a Te Papa Research Associate. He was a Curator of History at Te Papa and its predecessors (the Dominion and National Museums) from 1971 until his retirement in 2016. In his earlier years at the Museum, Michael was the sole-charge Curator of Colonial History, responsible for the Museum’s diverse collections of historical artefacts, including many objects and documents relating to the histories and technologies of the New Zealand Wars. Researching these artefacts and the stories behind them has long been and continues to be a topic of special interest to him.

Rebecca Rice is Curator Historical New Zealand Art at Te Papa. She specialises in the field of colonial New Zealand art, with a particular interest in the histories of collecting, exhibition, and display. Her current research focuses on the visual culture of the New Zealand Wars, and the impact of impressionism on New Zealand artists at home and abroad. 

Publication: March 2024
Pages: 480
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-9941460-8-3

RRP: $70
Buy Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmutuenga