The history and development of foreign ethnology collections in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa: Tuhinga 10

Tuhinga 10: 1 - 29

ABSTRACT: The history of foreign ethnology (excluding Pacific) collections  in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) is compared to that of three other New Zealand metropolitan museums: Otago Museum, Canterbury Museum and Auckland Museum.

The collections in all four museums have followed a similar pattern of development, although each museum has its own unique history. As a result of its early policy and practices, Te Papa has smaller, more disparate collections than the other three museums and, unlike them, acquired nearly all its foreign ethnology material passively.

KEYWORDS: Museum, New Zealand, foreign ethnology collections, European lithic, Native American