Our History & Values

A Knowledge Lost

In 1918, an influenza epidemic decimated Maori communities across New Zealand. Masters of knowledge were lost. The skills of carvers and weavers were buried with them - and fear stirred. For the traditional arts and crafts were the chronicles of the culture, carving and weaving centuries of history, recording families, language and every facet of every tribe.

“Without history, how do you know where you come from? How do you connect back to your land? How do you belong?,” says cultural advisor, Te Keepa Marsh. “Preserving the culture is preserving a people.”

In 1926 a group of tauira (students) were chosen to revive the art of whakairo (carving) at a time when Maori arts and crafts were at risk of being lost.

It was indeed the pioneering spirit of these young men that kept the art of whakairo afloat until 37 years later, when, the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute was established.

New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute

In 1963 the Government recognised the real threat to the indigenous race of New Zealand and passed an Act to encourage, foster, train students, exhibit works and restore the Maori culture and Maori arts and crafts.

In 1967, the first carving intake representing tribes throughout the country entered the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua. It was built in the reserve of Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley where tourism had been thriving for more than a century.

“Guiding started in the Whakarewarewa Village because visitors were fascinated by these people who lived in the steam. All those mud pools and geysers, they couldn’t believe it,” says Te Keepa.

“Our koro, (male elders) would put visitors on their backs and take them across the river where the women would be waiting to greet them.”

Tourism would be the lifeline for the Institute also. Under the Act it was required to become self-supporting.

To this day, it is visitor revenue that allows the continued training of young Maori and more.

Progress

“Tourism is what sustains us and that’s why visitors are welcomed into our schools. Without visitors we couldn’t be here,” says Andrew.

Tourism also meant the institute could expand beyond its carving and weaving schools. Guides, who had always been informally working in the valley, were now trained and employed fulltime. Many of those guides were and today are the direct descendants of the original tribes who settled here nearly 700 years ago.

While funds were channelled towards students and descendants resources were also poured into the land.

Conservation and ecology is a priority. Walkways and tracks have been repaired, vegetation restored. Today the land is a sanctuary for native wildlife and the geothermal valley is constantly monitored by a full land management team.

“Everything that happens in, on, around and under this land is checked; the waterways, signs of pollution, anything that’s occurring in the earth we know about,” says Andrew.

Visitor revenue has contributed to the extraordinary growth on site. Women of the weaving school sway and hum over their work. Stunning cultural performers excite and entertain in daily concerts. It is a far cry from the days when elders feared for lost generations.

A New Millennium

In 2005, a new name emerged to reflect all the struggles, the developments and the survival of a culture. Te Puia was once an impenetrable fortress overlooking the Whakarewarewa Valley. Te Puia had protected its people for centuries. Te Puia could lead all into another millennium. For it is time to celebrate, to be grateful and to always remember the deeds of those who never gave up.

“How do we manage all this? Simply by telling stories. We are the story tellers,” says Andrew.