A silver slice of Māori history: the Te Pahi medal

The circumstances of its presentation by the Governor of New South Wales, Philip Gidley King, to Te Pahi, a Ngāpuhi chief, provide insights into colonial and indigenous contacts and relationships in the early 1800s.

This paper considers the circumstances behind the commissioning of the medal in 1805–06 and its disappearance following colonist and whaler raids in 1810. When the medal reappeared, Ngāpuhi demanded its repatriation and attempted to have its sale postponed. Although this proved unsuccessful, the medal was repatriated thanks to a winning bid jointly made by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira. At the time of writing, the Te Pahi medal has just returned to New Zealand after an absence of more than 200 years.

By Mark Stocker

Te Pahi Medal, 1806, New South Wales, by John Austin. Collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira. Purchased 2014. Te Papa (GH024416)

More info on Tuhinga, Te Papa's research publication, where this paper was first published