A new waharoa stands at Te Puia this week, unveiled at dawn in front of hundreds to mark 100 years since the passage of the Māori Arts and Crafts Act 1926. Positioned within Rotorua’s geothermal valley at Whakarewarewa, the gateway pays tribute to a century of preserving traditional arts and culture.
The centenary milestone marks 100 years since the 1926 Act received Royal Assent, establishing a framework to protect carving, weaving, and traditional arts at a time when many customary practices were in decline.
Eraia Kiel, General Manager at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI), acknowledged the significance of the day:
“Kātahi te rā miharo ko tēnei. He kaupapa nui whakaharahara, kua roa nei e ārahi ana i te whakatenatena, te oranga tonutanga o a tātou mahi toi.”
The visionaries behind the 1926 Act
The roots of the Māori Arts and Crafts Act 1926 trace back to a period in Aotearoa when traditional Māori culture faced intense pressure from government assimilation policies and restrictive legislation.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, state-driven assimilation policies sought to absorb Māori into European society by systematically dismantling traditional structures, language, and cultural practices. The underlying goal was to suppress Indigenous identity and replace it with Western norms, causing profound social, cultural, and psychological harm to Māori communities.
A primary legislative tool of this era was the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, which criminalised traditional healing, spiritual practices, and the passing down of ancestral knowledge by tohunga.
Confronting this deliberate cultural erasure required immense resistance from Māori leaders like Tā Āpirana Ngata, Te Rangi Hīroa, and Māui Pōmare, who recognised that their heritage was facing extinction. Tā Āpirana Ngata successfully championed the Māori Arts and Crafts Act through Parliament in 1926, securing official recognition and a national framework to protect traditional arts for future generations.
As Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell noted regarding that oppressive climate,
“I really want to honour the legacy of 100 years here, and you have to remember at the time you had things like the Tohunga Suppression Act where Māori Arts and Crafts were not only supported but permitted to be able to be practiced.”
For decades, governance of the national institute sat with the Crown. But a turning point came in 2020 with the passage of the NZMACI Vesting Act 2020, which officially returned ownership of Te Puia from the government back to mana whenua.
The story behind the new waharoa
The newly unveiled waharoa is designed to act as a physical narrative, welcoming visitors and guiding them through the journey of the institute and its craft schools.
Master carver Albie Te Pou detailed how the structure honours the history of the site,
“Over the years, you hear people talking about the legacy of this place... The first school that they run into is Takapū. And from Takapū, they go into the carving school. And the middle figure in the centre is Pōhutu. And then you’ve got the carving school with Toki between its legs. And then the final one is Te Rito, with a kit as one of the items that they do on a regular basis.”
Regional art styles from across Aotearoa, including Ngāpuhi, Mataatua, and Te Arawa, are woven into the figures to reflect a national home for toi Māori.
Looking to the next century
Reflecting on the milestone and the road ahead, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell and NZMACI General Manager Eraia Kiel emphasised that while the centenary honours past sacrifices, the work to sustain traditional arts and hold government accountable remains ongoing.
“I just hope that future leaders, just like Sir Āpirana Ngata 100 years ago, make sure that this is not only supported to be here, but supported to continue to thrive.”
Drawing on the foundational aspirations of ancestors like Ngata, Te Rangi Hīroa, and Māui Pōmare, Kiel stressed that honouring that legacy requires securing active, ongoing support from the Crown into the future:
“Ka pātōtō tonu mātou ki te whatitoka o te kāwana kia aro mai rātou ki Te Puia... ki te āwhina ki te hiki i tēnei kaupapa nui.”
