Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga  The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa 
Matiu Baker, Katie Cooper, Michael Fitzgerald and Rebecca Rice

In March 2024 Te Papa Press will release Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa, a major book that it hopes will contribute to a better understanding of why the wars occurred and how their legacy of conflict endures. 

Using Te Papa’s rich taonga Māori, history and art collections, its 480 pages contain the stories of 500 powerful objects – from weapons and paintings to photographs and soldiers’ letters. 

The wars of 1845–72 were described by James Belich as ‘bitter and bloody struggles, as important to New Zealand as were the Civil Wars to England and the United States’. The conflict’s drivers of land and sovereignty continue to resonate today. 

Written and edited by Te Papa curators Matiu Baker, Katie Cooper, Michael Fitzgerald and Rebecca Rice, Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmataunga includes essays from Basil Keane, Arini Loader, Danny Keenan, Jade Kake, Mike Ross, Paul Meredith, Monty Soutar, Puawai Cairns and Ria Hall which further interrogate and explain some of the key facets of the wars. 

Through the generosity of supporters of Te Papa Foundation’s UK Circle, based in the United Kingdom, a copy of the book will be given to the libraries of every high school and kura in Aotearoa New Zealand in the month of publication. 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 

Matiu Baker (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakaue) is Curator Mātauranga Māori at Te Papa and has a broad interest in the many areas of Mātauranga Māori. His recent research has included work on Māori photographs and photography of Māori in nineteenth-century New Zealand. 

Katie Cooper is Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures at Te Papa. Her research focus is the social and material history of nineteenth-century New Zealand. She has been working to highlight women’s histories in Te Papa’s collections and develop collections that represent the everyday lives of New Zealanders. She is also engaged in ongoing research into the social history of rural New Zealand. 

Michael Fitzgerald is a Te Papa Research Associate. He was a Curator of History at Te Papa and its predecessors (the Dominion and National Museums) from 1971 until his retirement in 2016. In his earlier years at the Museum, Michael was the sole-charge Curator of Colonial History, responsible for the Museum’s diverse collections of historical artefacts, including many objects and documents relating to the histories and technologies of the New Zealand Wars. Researching these artefacts and the stories behind them has long been and continues to be a topic of special interest to him. 

Rebecca Rice is Curator Historical New Zealand Art at Te Papa. She specialises in the field of colonial New Zealand art, with a particular interest in the histories of collecting, exhibition, and display. Her current research focuses on the visual culture of the New Zealand Wars, and the impact of impressionism on New Zealand artists at home and abroad. 

Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga  The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa  by Matiu Baker, Katie Cooper, Michael Fitzgerald and Rebecca Rice | Te Papa Press | Published March 2024

Media contact: Penny Hartill – director hPR 021 721 424, penny@hartillpr.co.nz