1. Home
  2. Discover the collections
  3. Read, watch, play
  4. Ours: A podcast of twenty Te Papa objects

Ours: A podcast of twenty Te Papa objects

General Horatio Robley and the patu parāoa

Head of Matauranga Māori Puawai Cairns discusses the significance of a whalebone weapon – a patu parāoa.

A paper label fixed to its surface tells of a fleeting association with an English soldier – General Horatio Gordon Robley. Robley fathered a child in Tauranga with a woman called Harete Mauao. Descendant of General Horatio Robley – Googie Tapsell, recounts what she knew about her great-grandfather.

See the patu parāoa the on Collections Online

This podcast is a co-creation of RNZ, Te Papa, and media production company Bird of Paradise.

Brought to you by

RNZ logo

Bird of Paradise logo

You might also like

  • PM Jacinda Adern sees Shackleton’s sled for the first time
    Ours: A podcast of twenty Te Papa objects

    Ours: A podcast of twenty Te Papa objects

    From Jacinda Ardern’s encounter with the sled of her Antarctic hero, to a nine-year-old boy obsessed with the colossal squid, this new podcast series brings New Zealanders face to face with their favourite objects from Te Papa.

  • =""
    William Strutt’s New Zealand Wars painting

    William Strutt’s New Zealand Wars painting

    William Strutt’s painting depiction of the New Zealand Wars is almost 160 years old, but amid claims of racism and propaganda, it’s been making recent headlines.

  • Silver fern specimen
    Captain Cook’s silver ferns

    Captain Cook’s silver ferns

    Silver Ferns collected on Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand tell stories of science and exploration, and of the Māori concept of time. Historian Dame Anne Salmond and Botany Curator Leon Perrie bring their perspectives to these fragile symbols of Aotearoa.