Background to Te Māori exhibition:
The Te Māori exhibition of 174 taonga opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in September 1984. From there Te Māori travelled to the Saint Louis Art Museum, the de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco and closed in 1986 at the Field Museum in Chicago.
At dawn on the 10th September 1984, Te Māori opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with full Māori ritual through a 'dawn ceremony' which quickly became a hallmark at each venue. In New York, over 202,000 people visited the exhibition. Many more were exposed to Te Māori through cable and national television coverage and the exhibition made the front page of the New York Times. The success of Te Māori was in large part due to the foresight of Māori elders who believed it was a timely exhibition and agreed that beloved taonga be allowed to leave the country.
The exhibition met with such success that a New Zealand tour entitled Te Māori: Te Hokinga Mai travelled the country from 1986 starting at the National Museum, Wellington (August - October 1986), Otago Museum, Dunedin (November 1986 - February 1987) and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch (March - May 1987) and finally to the Auckland Art Gallery (June - September 1987).
- Bill Cooper (Chief Executive of the Te Māori Management Committee) he is interviewed by Haare Williams and talks about some of the taonga pieces on display.
- Bill Cooper speaks about some of the taonga
- Centre focus is on Uenuku, a Waikato war figure
- Te Kaha patanga items there were five items
- Te Aupouri item
- Waharoa (Te Arawa) another focal item called "Pukaki"
- Pukeroa Gate (Te Arawa) carries Tutanekai's personal moko
- Rei niho (Kai Tahu) items which are intricately designed
- Hei Tiki (Ngāti Porou) item
- Different types of "poria" necklaces (Taranaki)
- Turuturu whatua used to assist weavers
- Waitori excavation recovered by Richard Cassels currently curator at the Manawatu Museum (1986) dated them the year 900. Bill does not state what the articles are.