New exhibition in Russell focuses on Moturua Island's rich history

A pou is blessed at Mangahawea Bay to mark the site's historic significance while the waka hourua Haunui waits at anchor. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A new exhibition at Russell Museum tells the stories of one of New Zealand's oldest known human settlements and the families that later made Moturua Island their home.

Archaeological excavations at Mangahawea Bay, on Moturua Island in the eastern Bay of Islands, have offered tantalising evidence it was settled by the first wave of Polynesians to arrive in Aotearoa.

The evidence includes radiocarbon dates, artefacts made according to traditional Polynesian designs but using New Zealand materials, and the possible remains of a taro garden.

The show was formally opened on Saturday

starting with a pōwhiri at neighbouring Kororāreka Marae.

Ngāti Kuta kaumātua Matutaera Clendon and Heritage New Zealand archaeologist James Robinson examine a cut into a stream bank at Mangahawea Bay. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Russell Museum Trust chairwoman Maria Moppett, whose whakapapa connects her to the island, said the exhibition included artefacts discovered during the archaeological digs, historic photos of families that lived on and farmed the island, and information panels detailing Moturua's rich history.

Dame Anne Salmond, a renowned professor of anthropology and Māori studies, and former prime minister Dame Jenny Shipley were among the guests at the opening.

The exhibition would be open for at least a year, from 10am-4pm daily, and be added to as more photos and artefacts came to light.

Prominent people who lived on the island included the chief and Treaty signatory Te Kemara, and Īhaka Te Tai Hakuene, one of the first Māori Members of Parliament.

The last people to farm the island were the Maioha and Clendon families, whose descendants still live in the Russell area.

Kaumātua Matutaera Clendon, who was born on Moturua, has played a key role in the excavations.