
Activity A: Tihei mauri ora!
Explore the beginning of time in Aotearoa through pūrākau (stories).
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
Go down amazing wormholes with this curated suite of links.
Pūrākau – is a children's animated series of story time focused on Māori myths and legends. Available on Māori Television on Demand.
Māori creation traditions – Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal provides a useful summary on Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
The Māori gods – the first in a series of four animations based on a graphic novel developed for Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Authority. Available in te reo Maori too on the same channel.
How The Universe Works: Extreme Stars – Full Epilogue – a moving summary about what we are made of, and how our place in the universe, and the universe itself, is impermanent.
Pūrākau topic explorer – The Topic Explorer, by the National Library of New Zealand helps you find quality, curated resources on a range of topics to support and inspire inquiry. Each topic features a carefully selected set of resources, including websites, images, videos, books, and more.
How Māui defied the goddess of death – A beloved Māori myth about how Māui challenges Hine-nui-te-Pō, as told by the iconic author and illustrator Peter Gossage.
Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes by Gavin Bishop (2021) – a stunning, once-in-a-generation compendium on the pantheon of Māori gods, exploring Aotearoa’s most exciting legends.
Pūrākau: Māori myths retold by Māori writers, edited by Witi Ihimaera and Whiti Hereaka (2019) Ranginui, Papatūānuku, Māui, Tawhaki . . . our enduring stories retold by Māori writers.
Māreikura: Exploring the goddess in Māori women explore this gorgeous jewellery exhibition from Neke Moa communicating the essence of atua wāhine from Aotearoa.
Māreikura – a beautiful waiata honouring women, from Papatūānuku through genealogy to where we are now. Listen to the Modern Māori Quartet talk about the meaning in the waiata.
Explore the beginning of time in Aotearoa through pūrākau (stories).
Explore the magical connections that exist in whakapapa (ancestry) and imagine the place for human beings inside a thriving web of life.
Take a mind-bending journey to find our place in the vast cosmos of time and space.