A new museum being built at a remote North Hokianga marae will rival any in the Far North, a curator says.
Construction of Raiātea Resource Centre, at Motuti Marae between Kohukohu and Mitimiti, is well under way with the roof of the two-storey building now nearing completion.
Most items in the collection — which include Māori and Polynesian artefacts and objects relating to the history of the Catholic church in New Zealand — were collected by the late Pā Henare Tate over a period of 30 years. Others were donated to Motuti Marae by international visitors.
The curator of Te Ahu Museum in Kaitaia, Whina Te Whiu, said Te Ahu currently had the biggest publicly-accessible collection of historic artefacts in the Far North. Continue reading