We slept for a little more than 12 hours. We knew it would be gray and only planned to go to the museum so we turned off all alarms and slept in. This was to the great dismay of the hotel housekeeping staff as they almost walked-in on us twice. Turns out it’s the first place we stay with daily housekeeping and the first time we did not put out the do not disturb sign.
Today started with clouds and ended with a light rain. Not enough to use an umbrella or rain coats but enough to get wet.
The Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) is awesome. Even if half of it is closed for renovations we were impressed by the quality of everything displayed. The war exhibit could be a movie in itself. The fact that it was setup by the same studio who did the special effects for Lord of the Rings probably helps.
- The museum is a little depressing in a sense that it covers a lot of loss:
- It shows how local species are in dangers or already extinct as a result of the introduction of other invasive species or human activities.
- There’s an exhibit that could be titled “How the Māori people got screwed out of their land”. It includes a display of the 19th century treaties with the crown and how it was broken almost the day after it was signed by the crown. It also includes how the crown recognized everything they’ve done to break the original treaty also (only in the 21st century) with a print out of portion of the document.
- There’s the First World War exhibit and how devastating it was to the New Zealand troops, both Māori and non-Māori.
In the end, it feels a lot like the history of New Zealand is better documented (as it is more recent) but very similar story to Canada. There’s a lot of similarities between how European took over Canada from the Natives and how they’ve done it to the Māori in New Zealand.
Even if there’s a lot to be depressed about there are good things that shine through. The Māori culture is a lot more present now and it is more inclusive. There are still issues and much that must be made right but the fact that the museum has its signage in Māori first and that a lot of Māori words have made it in the New Zealand culture makes us feel they are ahead of us in that regard. Also the conservation efforts and ecology values are simple matter of fact in New Zealand now, showing they’ve learned a lot and are making things right(er).