7 Jun 2017

An award-winning exhibition opening at Canterbury Museum shows the legacy of Ngai Tahu women.

Hākui: Women of Kāi Tahu, which opens on June 9, profiles the lives and achievements of 50 women from the perspective of kā uri whakatipu (today’s generation) and shared through taoka (treasured objects), photographs and memories. 

A new exhibition celebrates Ngai Tahu women and their achievements.

A new exhibition celebrates Ngai Tahu women and their achievements.

Visitors are invited to share memories of the women in their own lives, to step into ‘Aunty’s kitchen’ and to try their hand at plaiting kāwai kete (flax bag handles).

The term hākui is an acknowledgement of respect and a form of address to a female elder.

The exhibition celebrates mothers, aunties, taua (grandmothers and female elders), great aunts, great grandmothers and tūpuna wāhine (female ancestors).

The touring exhibition was developed by Otago Museum with the support, advice and contribution of whānau, rūnaka (rūnanga), hapū and iwi, and opened in November 2015.

The exhibition won the Metropolitan Taonga Māori Award at the 2016 ServiceIQ New Zealand Museum Awards.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book Hākui Women of Kāi Tahu which is available from the Museum Store for $10.

Hākui: Women of Kāi Tahu opens at Canterbury Museum on Friday and runs until November 26. It was developed by Otago Museum alongside Hākui whānau.

The exhibition uses a local Kāi Tahu dialect which uses a ‘k’ where others would use a ‘ng’.