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Heritage experts and kaitiaki are in Whakatane for a national hui on preserving iwi cultural heritage.
The Tuhonohono I nga Taonga a Iwi hui is being hosted by Te Papa in partnership with Ngati Awa at Te Manuka Tutahi, the cultural centre developed to house the Mataatua wharenui which was returned to Ngati Awa from Otago Museum.
Te Papa senior curator Rhonda Paku says the national museum has an obligation to help people care for their own taonga by sharing its expertise at marae and whanau level.
It’s not about living in the past.
"Some of our taonga we have to keep remaking them. We can't keep preserving the ones we have now without thinking about how do we replace them and passing that knowledge on to the new generation. There is definitely a good reason for us to conserve and preserve what we have but it's equally important we keep making to replace those ones that have been in our family a long time," she says.
Rhonda Paku says there will be workshops tomorrow on preserving photos, images and paperwork, textiles, and built heritage like meeting houses.
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