Maori Culture

New Zealand’s Rangitāne tribe has finally laid to rest the remains of 60 ancestors unearthed from their original burial ground then reclaimed from Canterbury Museum in the South Island.

A giant gourmet hangi, created by Kiwi celebrity chef Peter Gordon, will launch New Zealand’s 2009 celebrations for Matariki or Māori New Year.

Kupe was one of Polynesia’s most famous voyagers and now an exhibition celebrating his life is on the move itself, leaving the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington and heading to the central North Island town of Rotorua.

Runners from 10 countries will compete this weekend (21.03.09) in a unique beach marathon on the remote sands of 90 Mile Beach in New Zealand’s Far North.

A highly skilled performance has won Auckland’s Māori performing arts group Te Waka Huia, the supreme award at New Zealand’s annual Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival for the fourth time.

A Māori cloak of historic significance is home in Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand, after living in a London closet for more than 20 years.

Royalty, politicians, artists and performers will be among the crowds taking part in Waitangi Day - New Zealand’s national holiday - celebrations this Friday (6.02.09).

Māori culture teams from all over New Zealand are polishing their performance arts as they ready themselves to compete at the country’s biggest kapa haka festival next month.

New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa in Wellington has notched up 15 million visitors since opening 10 years ago.

More than 1 million people have watched Tourism New Zealand's television commercial 'Youngest Country' on YouTube in the past year.