1919–1923 Dominion Museum ethnological expeditions

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Āpirana Ngata (left) and Te Rangihīroa during the Fourth Dominion Museum ethnological expedition to Waiomatatini in 1923

The 1919–1923 Dominion Museum ethnological expeditions were a series of ethnological research expeditions encouraged and led by Āpirana Ngata and Te Rangihīroa, and undertaken between 1919 and 1923 with Elsdon Best, James McDonald and Johannes Andersen, to study Māori culture.[1][2][3][4]

Inception[edit]

The idea for the expeditions came while Āpirana Ngata was revising the Dictionary of the Māori Language. He wrote to the Minster of Internal Affairs saying,

"It was all very well collecting and defining words in a dictionary, but that didn’t very well serve a culture that had embedded its wisdom, traditions, and history in the nuances of spoken language rather than in literature." 

He said it was better to send specialists out in the field to record the songs and oratory of Māori and to undertake,

“the ‘filming’ of hakas and pois, and of Maori village life, showing ‘tangis’, meetings, life on the cultivations and so on”.[5]

Other research has points to Te Rangihīroa as being behind the idea of ethnological expeditions.[6]

The four expeditions were across Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa (North Island, New Zealand) and visted Gisborne, Rotorua, the Whanganui River region and Tairāwhiti / East Coast.[1][7]

It was the first project of its kind in Aotearoa. Recording iwi and hapū around the North Island they captured knowledge of a range of fishing techniques, art forms like weaving, kōwhaiwhai, kapa haka, mōteatea, ancestral rituals and everyday life in the communities they visited.[8] Overall the purpose was to record Māori life before it disappeared.[9]

Dominion Museum staff[edit]

Johannes Andersen and James McDonald accompanied Elson Best on these expeditions and they were assisted at each venue by person’s expert in Māori custom who could smooth the way for the Recordist.[10]

During the 1923 East Coast expedition, Te Rangihīroa was again a member of the team, and Apirana Ngata was present for part of the time.[10]

Of the three permanent team members, Best and McDonald were both staff members of the sponsoring institution. Best the ethnographer, McDonald the expert photographer and cinematographer and Andersen recruited because of his knowledge of music.[10][11]

Expeditions 1919-1923[edit]

First Dominion Museum Ethnology Expedition, 2 - 16 April 1919, Gisborne.

  • Particpants: Elsdon Best, Johannes Anderson, James McDonald.[1]

Second Dominion Museum Ethnology Expedition, 12 April - 8 May 1920, Rotorua.

  • Particpants: Elsdon Best, Johannes Anderson, James McDonald.[1]

Third Dominion Museum Ethnology Expedition, 17 March - 18 April 1921, Whanganui River.

  • Particpants: Elsdon Best, Johannes Anderson, James McDonald, Te Rangihīroa.[1]

Fourth Dominion Museum Ethnology Expedition ,18 March - 12 April 1923, Tairāwhiti / East Coast.

  • Particpants: Elsdon Best, Johannes Anderson, James McDonald, Te Rangihīroa, Āpirana Ngata.[1]

Collections[edit]

Photography and other records from the Dominion Museum Ethnological Expedition can be found in the Archives section, of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The museum also has a series of sound recordings of Māori culture by Elson Best. The first set of recordings was made on expeditions to Gisborne 1919, Rotorua 1920 and the Whanganui River 1921.[10] Other recordings done by Best can be found in the Christchurch Art Gallery collection.[8]

Johannes Anderson had a diary for some of the later expeditions, and other work. It can be found in the Alexander Turnbull Library. It describes a visit (Mar-Apr 1923) to East Coast Maori pā (East Cape to Waipiro Bay) and Waiomatatini collecting recordings of Māori songs from Ngāti Porou.[12] Also an account of a visit to Tauranga (Dec 1923) and Kapiti (Dec 1924 -Jan 1925).[12]

The Alexander Turnbull Library also holds an album of photographs taken on the 1921, third expedition up the Whanganui River by James McDonald.[13]

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision holds some of the films James McDonald made from the First Dominion Museum Ethnology Expedition. (Te hui aroha ki tūranga, Gisborne hui aroha)[14]

Further information relating to taonga collected on the expeditions can be found in the chapter Reconnecting Taonga by Billie Lythberg in the 2021 publication Treasures for the Rising Generation: The Dominion Museum Ethnological Expeditions 1919-1923. (pages 306-315)[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wayne Ngata; Arapata Hakiwai; Anne Salmond; et al. (November 2021). Treasures for the Rising Generation: The Dominion Museum Ethnological Expeditions 1919–1923 (in English and Māori). Te Papa Press. pp. 1–368. ISBN 978-0-9951031-0-8. OL 33957253M. Wikidata Q124738173.
  2. ^ Salmond, Anne; Lythberg, Billie (March 2019). "Spiralling histories: reflections on the 1923 Dominion Museum East Coast Ethnological Expedition and other multimedia experiments". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 128 (1): 43–63. doi:10.15286/jps.128.1.43-63.
  3. ^ Schorch, Philipp; McCarthy, Conal; Hakiwai, Arapata (March 2016). "Globalizing Māori Museology: Reconceptualizing Engagement, Knowledge, and Virtuality through Mana Taonga". Museum Anthropology. 39 (1): 48–69. doi:10.1111/muan.12103. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30118330. ISSN 0892-8339.
  4. ^ Tapsell, Paora. "Māori and museums – ngā whare taonga - Māori engage with museums, 1870s to 1970s". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  5. ^ Yarwood, Vaughn (2022). "Hei taonga mā ngā uri whakatipu: treasures for the rising generation". New Zealand Geographic. Jan–Feb. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  6. ^ Montgomery, Denise. "Billie Lythberg: the business of being curious". University of Auckland : News and Opinion. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  7. ^ Kapuni-Reynolds, Halena (3 April 2023). "Hei Taonga mā ngā Uri Whakatipu | Treasures for the Rising Generation: The Dominion Museum Ethnological Expeditions 1919–1923: By Wayne Ngata, Arapata Hakiwai, Anne Salmond, Conal McCarthy, Amiria Salmond, Monty Soutar, James Schuster, Billie Lythberg, John Niko Maihi, Sandra Kahu Nepia, Te Wheturere Poope Gray, Te Aroha McDonnell and Natalie Robertson. Wellington, Te Papa Press, 2021. 368 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780995133108 (hbk). NZ$75.00". The Journal of Pacific History. 58 (2): 212–214. doi:10.1080/00223344.2022.2101909. ISSN 0022-3344.
  8. ^ a b "Capturing the Airs". Bulletin.214. 23 November 2023. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024.
  9. ^ Warne, Kennedy (22 November 2021). "Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne". RNZ. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "Elsdon Best's Recordings of Traditional Maori Songs". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa : Collections Online. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  11. ^ Powell, Courtney; Amaama, Safua Akeli (10 August 2023). "Exploring connections: Reviewing aspects of Te Papa's historical South African Collection". Tuhinga. 34: 75–86. doi:10.3897/tuhinga.34.106520. ISSN 2253-5861.
  12. ^ a b Andersen, Johannes Carl. "Andersen, Johannes Carl, 1873-1962: Diary. Ref: MS-0053". Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  13. ^ McDonald, James Ingram. "Photograph album of Whanganui River expedition Ref: PA1-q-257". Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  14. ^ McDonald, James. "Te hui aroha ki tūranga (Gisborne hui aroha)". Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Retrieved 4 June 2024.


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