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Collection Manager Mama Grace Hutton talks about the Cook Islands collection here at Te Papa

As part of Cook Islands Language Week 2024, Kaitiaki Taonga Collection Manager Mama Grace Hutton talked to Brian Sagala from the Pacific Days team at 531 PI about some of the vaka and models from the Cook Islands collections at Te Papa.

View some of the objects mentioned by Mama Grace

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Cook Islands

There are around 14,800 residents across the Cook Islands, with a significant population living in Aotearoa New Zealand, maintaining strong ties home. Explore Te Papa’s Cook Island collections and stories from the community.

Tauhunu – a vessel carrying culture

One of the treasures we look after is a canoe that appears at the entrance of the exhibition Tangata o le Moana: the story of Pacific people and New Zealand on level four. This vaka (outrigger canoe) is from Manihiki in the northern Cook Islands and is one of only three such vaka that survive in museums worldwide. It is called Tauhunu after the main village on Manihiki.

Pacific sailing vessels