
Cook Islands
There are around 14,800 residents across the Cook Islands, with a significant population living in Aotearoa New Zealand, maintaining strong ties home. Explore Te Papa’s Cook Island collections and stories from the community.
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
As part of Niue Language Week 2024, Senior Curator Pacific Histories and Cultures Sean Mallon and PMN Niue host Inangaro Vakaafi from 531 PI talk about some of the Niue collections at Te Papa.
There are around 14,800 residents across the Cook Islands, with a significant population living in Aotearoa New Zealand, maintaining strong ties home. Explore Te Papa’s Cook Island collections and stories from the community.
One of the treasures we look after is a canoe that appears at the entrance of the exhibition Tangata o le Moana: the story of Pacific people and New Zealand on level four. This vaka (outrigger canoe) is from Manihiki in the northern Cook Islands and is one of only three such vaka that survive in museums worldwide. It is called Tauhunu after the main village on Manihiki.