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
Hear about tatau (Sāmoan tattooing), weaving in Tokelau, browse our Pacific collections online, and read blogs.
Watch five interviews with eight Pasifika women examining the trope of the sensual ‘dusky maiden’ and the cultural significance of flowers in the Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Pacific Islands. Explore further through blog articles responding to the films, Te Papa collection images, and Pacific writing and media.
Vanuatu is a South Pacific archipelago of over 80 islands, known for its extraordinary cultural diversity, with more than 100 spoken languages, with the official languages being English, French and Bislama, an English-based creole language. Find out about Vanuatu in our collections.
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.
The Republic of Kiribati is an island nation of over 32 atolls in Micronesia, in the central Pacific Ocean, with most of its population of over 119,000 living on the island of Tarawa. Find out about Kiribati in our collections.
Discover some of our Niuean stories about our communities and collections from kahoa hihi to katoua, tiputa to titi, the coral atoll to coconut, and more.
Tokelau is in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawai‘i and Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more about Tokelau through videos, blogs, and an activity book.
Tonga, officially known as the Kingdom of Tonga, and also known as ‘The Friendly Islands’, is a group of islands in the South Pacific. It is currently the only Pacific country with a constitutional monarchy. Read stories and view our collections in connection to Tonga and the people of Tonga.
Our collections represent stories of Sāmoa and its people. Explore some of our Sāmoan stories about our collections from Apia to Auckland, tatau to travelling umu boxes, headdresses to hip hop, and more.
Read about our collections and connections to the island of Rotuma, part of the Rotuma Group, which includes several smaller islands in the South Pacific Ocean, around 650 kilometres north of Fiji.
The Solomon Islands, an archipelago nation situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is made up of over 900 islands with rainforests, coastal environments, and coral reefs. The people of the Solomon Islands are primarily Melanesian and the official language is English, however, pidgin English is widely spoken.
Fiji – officially the Republic of Fiji – comprises over 800 islands and the official language is English, though most speak Bauan or Hindustani. Find out more about Fiji through our collections, videos, blogs, and a Fijian language activity book.
Tuvalu is made up of six atolls Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, Nukulaelae, and three reef islands, Nanumaga, Niutao, and Niulakita, making up a total land area of 26 square kilometres.
Explore some of the collections in Te Papa, and read about the lives and history of the people of Tuvalu.
Find out about how tapa has been used, read about wānanga (workshops) contemporary makers, and see the tools used to make tapa and the beautiful taonga (treasures) in our collection.
The Dawn Raids were the Government’s promise to ‘get tough’ on law and order and immigration in the 1970s. Raids took place in the early hours of the morning or late at night when police would enter homes to convict and deport so-called ‘over-stayers’.
Books about history and cultures in the Pacific.
We seek to understand the local and global histories of Pacific peoples, and to document these stories through our collection.
Find out about some of our current Pacific Cultures research projects.
Thu 9 Jul 2020
An ʻahu ʻula (feather cloak) and mahiole (feather helmet) gifted to Captain Cook in 1779 are being permanently returned to Hawaiʻi by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Press release He pānui pāpāho
Celebrate the story of Pacific people, past and present, in all areas of life.
On now
Long-term exhibition
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
River cleaners, tree planters, possum trappers, and climate crusaders. Explore stories from around Aotearoa New Zealand of communities taking care of their natural environment.
The history of the discovery of Aotearoa New Zealand goes back a millennium and contains the stories of many fine explorers, from Kupe to Cook. Here, explore Pacific exploration and European colonisation through our taonga, kōrero, and events.
Ferns are so prominent in Aotearoa New Zealand, we even wear them on our sporting uniforms. From botany research to citizen science, pressed-fern books of the 1800s to collecting All Blacks and tourism memorabilia, our collectors and curators spend a lot of time with ferns.
The navigation of the Pacific by waka hourua | double-hulled sailing waka is one of the great achievements of human technology. This exhibition celebrates the mātauranga of celestial navigation that enabled these extraordinary voyages.
On now
Permanent exhibition
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
Wed 24 Nov 2021
Eight students from Taita College have created an advertising campaign promoting Te Papa’s Collections Online.
Press release He pānui pāpāho
In the first of four blogs about this kaupapa, Senior Curator Pacific Histories and Cultures Sean Mallon introduces the continuation of this project and the wānanga that happened in Tahiti late 2023.
From Tīvaevae quilts to the finely carved ceremonial adze – explore our Cook Island collections and stories.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries George Crummer built up a business taking pictures of Cook Islanders and general scene photographs in Rarotonga, Aituaki, and Mangaia.
Pacific peoples picked up cricket from British colonial settlers and quickly developed their own versions of the game. Indigenous forms of cricket are now played by Pacific communities across the world.
Discover the art of tīvaevae (quilting) with Cook Islands women from the Wellington region.
