The trouble about your combs arose this way... Changing interpretations of the Māori Antiquities Act 1908: Tuhinga 18

Tuhinga 18: 1-10

ABSTRACT: The Maori Antiquities Act 1908 regulated the export of Māori artefacts from New Zealand between 1908 and 1962. The legislation allowed the Minister of Internal Affairs to approve the inclusion of Māori artefacts as part of exchange arrangements between New Zealand and overseas museums. Government officials were advised in such matters by staff of the then Dominion Museum. An examination of a number of applications to export exchange material under the Act during the 1920s reveals changes in the interpretation of the Act by government and museum individuals.

KEYWORDS: Maori Antiquities Act 1908, antiquities legislation, exchanges, museum conference, duplicates, Dominion Museum, Otago Museum, H.D. Skinner