Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Fiji comprises over 800 islands and the official languages of Fiji are Fijian, Fiji Hindi, and English, although many other languages are spoken in the islands. Find out more about Fiji through our collections, videos, blogs, and a Fijian language activity book.
As part of Fiji Language Week 2024, Emele Ugavule, a Tokelauan/Fijian storyteller, Pacific Cultures Tautai intern Melanie Ioane-Warren, and Curator Pacific Cultures Emelihter Kihleng talk to 531 PI about some of the Fijian Iyau (treasures) at Te Papa.
Early childhood, Primary
Celebrate the Fijian language by learning Fijian words, numbers, and phrases through simple activities that kids love – word searches, colouring pages, and stories.
Activity book
From Saqa Niwai (water containers) to masi (tapa cloths), people and language, to places and islands, photos of Fiji from Glenn Jowitt, Leslie Adkin, and the Burton Brothers, and much more.
Fijian masi (tapa) has customarily been used for ceremonial occasions such as weddings or the conferring of a chiefly title. Explore tapa and tapa related objects from Fiji.
Originally taken from the lower jaw of sperm whales found stranded on beaches, which were relatively rare, the tabua have a high spiritual value, and are considered tabua to be kavakaturanga (chiefly items) and iYau (treasures).
In Fiji, the tooth of a whale is shown on the 20c coin. Find out why in this Tales of Te Papa episode.
Pearl-shell breastplates, called civa in Fijian, were worn as ornaments by chiefs in Fiji and many other Pacific regions. They were highly valued and often used in ceremonies. More elaborate styles of civa evolved in the early 1800s with the increasing availability of metal tools and whale teeth.
In 2019, Dame Robin White invited a small team from Te Papa to visit her on location in Lautoka Fiji as she completed That Vase, a masi (Fijian tapa) made with her collaborator Tamari Cabeikanacea.
Curator Botany Leon Perrie talks about some of his fern finds in Fiji, while taking part in a Conservation International-funded, international expedition.
Drua are Fijian canoes. Large and fast, some drua could reach speeds of up to fifteen knots in a good wind. They were among the most finely crafted vessels in Fiji, identical in design to the Sāmoan ‘alia and the Tongan kalia.
The Fijian Museum records how in the 1800s, Fijians would marvel at one’s buiniga (afro) and the further away from your head one’s hair was, the more impressive their hairstyle. How did they create and keep these buiniga hairdos intact?
Did you know the Star Wars franchise Tusken Raider gaderffii, or gaffi sticks have a connection to the warriors of 19th century Fiji?
Browse Alfred Burton’s photographs taken on a four-week cruise in the Pacific, including Fiji. They are characteristic of nineteenth-century travel photographs, recording images of colonial industry, officialdom, distinctive foliage, and local people.
The long-legged warbler (Trichocichla rufa) was described in 1890 based on three specimens collected on Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island, and are now ranked as Endangered. The first nest, which contained two eggs and produced two chicks, was discovered in 2009.
Magimagi is braided from long coconut husks, preferably those of the elongated niumagimagi coconut, and has a spiritual and cultural significance as well as practical use.
