MTG Hawke's Bay opens exhibition showcasing Ngāti Kahungunu taonga

An approximately 700-year-old hei tiki originally belonging to Kahungunu, the whakapapa of all Ngāti Kahungunu iwi descendants, is a significant item on display. Photo / Supplied

An exhibition highlighting Ngāti Kahungunu taonga and other treasures opens at MTG Hawke's Bay on Saturday.An approximately 700-year-old hei tiki originally belonging to Kahungunu, the whakapapa of all Ngāti Kahungunu iwi descendants, is a significant item on display.

The exhibition titled Rongonui: Taonga mai ngā tāngata, ngā wāhi, me ngā takahanga includes oil paintings, historic photographs, documents, pounamu, carving, clothing, and cloaks.

"The museum has a close and collaborative relationship with Ngāti Kahungunu and it's important to us that iwi voices are heard in exhibitions such as this," said MTG's director, Laura Vodanovich.

The exhibition brings a rare opportunity to view items not often on display while learning about major rangatira, Māori-Pākehā relationships, famous battles, land loss, contemporary Māori artists, and more.

Te Hira Henderson, the Curator Māori at MTG, hopes people will share their own oral history of the taonga which he plans to add to MTG's records.

"Whenever anyone has created an exhibition like this, they tend to rely on written sources. There will be different versions of these stories, and sometimes there are elements of truth to these other versions. I hope people will share their stories about the taonga with me, and that way we can add more to what we know about the history of these objects," Henderson said.

Entry is free and the museum is open 9.30am to 5pm daily.