He is known for his song Beneath the Maori Moon, the most famous version of which was recorded by George Nepia in the 1930s with the Nuhaka Trio and Aloha Orchestra.
Walter was born in Nuhaka in 1883, raised in the Mormon faith and educated at Brigham Young University, Utah, where he studied music.
After graduating and touring the US with various Hawaiian groups, Walter returned home and began teaching music at the newly built Māori Agricultural College (MAC) at Bridge Pa in 1913.
It was compulsory for all MAC pupils to learn music, and as a result Walter had access to talent, instruments and resources.
With a particular passion for stringed instruments, he became an inventor of experimental contraptions such as double guitars and slap basses.
The American influence of Walter's formative years is reflected in his music, especially the Hawaiian music craze sweeping the world in the early 1900s, with some attributing the unique Maori guitar strum known today to this romanticised Hawaiian style introduced by Walter.
After leaving the MAC in the early 1920s, Walter relocated to Auckland where he went on to establish Auckland's first jazz band, the Walter Smith Jazz Band, which included two nieces, Dinah and Marjorie Greening from Nuhaka, along with Syd Kamau from Bridge Pa, an outstanding clarinetist and saxophonist.
This group of musicians went on to establish Auckland's jazz scene with variations of jazz and Hawaiian bands performing through the 1920s and 30s.
The legacy of the MAC and Walter Smith is clear, however it is unclear as to what extent Walter influenced existing Hawke's Bay groups such as the Moteo String Orchestra, reputed to have developed into New Zealand's first jazz band.
While we know the Moteo musicians were trained by a person "from overseas", that person is not named.
Could it be Walter Smith? Certainly, the Moteo String Orchestra (as they were known through World War I) was the most advanced Maori ensemble at the time and it would have been natural for Walter to extend their skills to the new jazz style.
The Moteo Jazz Band went on to become the Harry Brown Dance Band of the 1940s and 50s, one of the most popular bands in Hawke's Bay after World War II.
The exhibition will be open until August next year and I hope to answer the question of Walter's involvement with the Moteo Jazz Band, and with the help of whanau and visitors, to affirm their claim as New Zealand's first jazz band.
Looking ahead, we will celebrate Matariki with an open day on Sunday, June 25; do mark the date in your calendar for a free visit to see He Manu Tioriori: Songbirds along with our other exhibitions, and enjoy the live-streaming of the Kaumatua Kapa Haka Festival into the Century Theatre directly from Te Papa, Wellington.
• Charles Ropitini is Pou Arahi, strategic Maori adviser, at the Museum Theatre Gallery (MTG) Hawke's Bay.
