A Pōwhiri of Value

A pōwhiri was held recently to celebrate the relationship between Pitt Rivers Museum, Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. It was unexpectedly powerful, bringing together diverse emotions, histories and futures. 

Dr Benita Simati-Kumar and Dr Hirini Kaa reflect on their experiences in light of Ngā Uara.

Dr Benita Simati-Kumar reflects on our uara of Kotahitanga and Te Whakapono.

Kotahitanga

In my experience, haka pōwhiri is where kotahitanga is not just spoken about, but fully embodied. Race, position, religion, hierarchy, and ego are checked at the door. In that moment, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa kaimahi—from the Chief Executive to the groundskeeper—become one body, one voice, one intent.

The pōwhiri setting—simple to an onlooker—is complex and deliberate. Operational staff execute each detail with precision. As you enter, no instructions are needed; bodies simply know where they belong within the vā. A space that holds raranga classes in the morning and noho for the evening becomes a humble yet powerful site of ceremony, marking a significant milestone for the Wānanga and Oxford.

The room falls into silence as the first notes of Haani’s karanga travel through the walls, activating the space before they enter. The atmosphere shifts. Our collective voices rise and ignite the room, calling our manuhiri forward and signalling that we are present and united. Irrespective of individual haka ability, experience, or confidence, we stand arm to arm with those more practiced than us. We follow their lead. Our hands move in unison, timed to the same beat. Voices that begin tentatively grow louder, stronger, carried by those beside us. You feel the mauri swell and recognise, deeply, that this is kotahitanga in its purest form.

In this space, yesterday’s worries lose their weight. What once felt heavy is now carried by the collective and becomes lighter by the second. The cool air of the morning fog fades as warmth settles deep in the puku. Language once perceived as foreign becomes clear; Te reo Māori activating the space as a language of aroha, connection, and intentionality. An Indigenous language that acknowledges the vast vā between us, speaking to your ancestors and mine, without ego, without hierarchy. Here, difference is not erased—it coexists—held together by our shared commitment to the kaupapa.

This is uniquely and unapologetically Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, where space, practice, and people align to uphold Ngā Uara.

Te Whakapono

When I speak of the potential of vā, I refer to a reinvigoration of our collective consciousness and connectedness. It is the intrinsic human pursuit to reach beyond what is known, to seek new horizons that nourish growth and sustain our ways of knowing. The Pitt Rivers Museum MoU signing pōwhiri captured this essence with clarity and intent.

The relationship formed in that moment was not transactional; it was relational. It was grounded in trust and the belief that shared values would be upheld and that collective responsibility would guide the relationship forward. Te Whakapono was not declared; it was enacted. It was visible in how people moved through space, how they listened, how they stood together, and how tikanga was honoured without compromise.

From a spatial and vā-based lens, te whakapono lives in how space holds relationship. The pōwhiri created a vā where histories, emotions, and futures could sit together without tension needing resolution. It allowed both institutions to meet not as equal in form, but as equal in intent, each acknowledging the other’s depth, responsibility, and whakapapa.

Everyone present carried a role, not only within the ceremony but in the future of this kaupapa. Te Whakapono places obligation on all of us, to act with integrity, to remain in relationship, and to tend the vā with care long after the karakia ends. Maintaining the potential of vā requires active trust, continuous presence, and confidence that our connections—carefully established in ceremony—will be honoured through action. In this way, whakapono becomes both the foundation and the future of the relationship between Pitt Rivers Museum, Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

Dr Hirini Kaa reflects on our uara of Ngā Ture and Te Aroha

Ngā Ture

Several years ago I visited the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. I walked in the front door and saw a large space filled with cabinets of taonga from across the world. To be honest it looked like a bit of a mess with the only constant being the Empire taking what it wanted as it expanded its power. When I looked closer I saw tūpāpaku from various lands. I walked straight back out.

Since then Pitt Rivers, under the influence of Indigenous scholars from across the world, has come to understand itself and its impact on the world. It understands now that it was part of the Empire’s work to categorise and dominate the world, weaponising “research” against the Indigenous peoples it sought to suppress and exploit. 

One of those Indigenous scholars was our very own Te Kura Toroa - Evie. Her relationship with Director Professor Laura Van Broekhoven not only enhanced this journey of self-awareness and decolonisation but also began a process of Indigenisation and embracing and embedding Indigenous values and mātauranga (worldviews) into the life of the museum. The tūpāpaku, for example, have been removed and repatriation has begun. 

Thus the pōwhiri embraced the spirit of Ngā Ture – upholding what is right.

Te Aroha

This spirit of Te Ture - Te Ture Wairua me Te Ture Tangata manifested in the pōwhiri in the spirit of Te Aroha. 

After such a sad history, there should be anger. Matua Hemi offered a powerful whaikōrero, which to me offered a recognition and a challenge to this past. Instead of anger, there was an acceptance of wrong done in the past, and a welcome which offered reconciliation and peace – te hohou o te rongo. 

This reconciliation came in the form of a person. Mākereti Papakura (Tūhourangi) was the first female Indigenous scholar at the University of Oxford. Her amazing legacy was recently recognised by the University, including the posthumous awarding of her MPhil in Anthropology. 

Through the work of Evie, when you enter into the Museum nowadays instead of tūpāpaku you see Mākereti. And this was acknowledged at the pōwhiri, including the presence of the Vice Chancellor of Oxford.

This is the work of forgiveness and reconciliation. This is what aroha looks like.