Haunga te wairua Pākehā o ngā whakaaturanga a ngā whare taonga, ka ngana tonu te Māori kia whai hono ki ngā whare taonga o Aotearoa. I roto i ēnei tūhonotanga, riro katoa te mana i ngā whare taonga. Mai i te paunga o te rautau 1800 ki ngā tau tōmua o 1900 ka mahi tahi ngā kaiārahi Māori ki ngā pūkenga, ngā kaikohi me ngā toihau whare taonga e mau tonu ai te tuakiri a te Māori. I ngā tekau tau 1870 me 1880 ko Paora Tūhaere o Ngāti Whātua te kaitiaki o te waka taua o Te Tāpiri i tōna wharau i Tāmaki Paenga Hira. He maha ngā iwi whai pānga ki tēnei waka whakahirahira.
Arā anō ngā tauira o te whakamahi a te Māori i te whare taonga hei tāwharau i ngā taonga:
- I te tau 1901 ka whakaritea e Te Pōkiha Taranui rāua ko Tawa (Gilbert Mair) te hoko o te whare whakairo o Rangitihi ki Tāmaki Paenga Hira. Ahakoa ko te pūtea te pūtake o te hoko, tērā anō hoki te hiahia kia noho haumaru tonu te whare o Rangitihi.
- Nō te tīmatanga o te tekau tau 1920 ka mahi tahi a Āpirana Ngata rātou ko Te Raumoa Balneavis me Te Rangi Hīroa mā (Peter Buck) ki ngā Pākehā i a Te Pēhi (Elsdon Best) rātou ko Johannes Andersen me James McDonald o te Whare Taonga o Aotearoa ki te kawe haere i ngā huranga mātai momo tangata.
- I te tau 1927 ka tautokona a Ngata e te Whare Taonga o Aotearoa kia waihangatia te kura toi Māori ki Whakarewarewa ki Rotorua.
- Mai i te pokapū o te tekau tau 1920 ka whai mahi a Thomas Heberley (ko Heperi anō tōna ingoa Māori) ki te Whare Taonga o Aotearoa. I mahi ngātahi rāua ko W.J. Phillips ki te whakaemi me te hora i ngā taonga hei kai mā te kanohi.
- I te tau 1925 ka takohatia e a Eruini Taipari me Ngāti Maru te whare whakairo o Hotunui ki Tāmaki Paenga Hira i runga i te manako ka tiakina a Hotunui.
Ka aukati anō te Māori i ngā mahi tānoanoa i ngā urupā. I te tau 1932 ka tuhi ngā rangatira o Te Uri-o-Hau ki a George Graham o te Tāmaki Paenga Hira mō ngā mahi tūkino a te Pākehā ki Kaipara. Nō tētahi wā anō ka noho ko Ngata tonu ki te turuki i te kēhi a ngā Māori o Waihī.
Ko Mākereti Papakura i Oxford
Ko Mākereti Papakura, arā, ko ‘Guide Maggie’ o Tūhourangi tētahi o ngā wāhine rongonui o Rotorua. Nō te tekau tau 1920, nōna e noho ana i Ingarangi, e ako ana ia i te mātauranga tikanga tangata ki te wānanga i Oxford. I horaina e ia āna ake taonga ki te whare taonga o Pitt Rivers, te whare taonga tikanga tangata o Oxford. I tuku tohutohu anō ia ki te whare taonga e pā ana ki ngā tohutohu a ōna koeke.
I te tekau tau 1930 ko Ngata te Māori tuatahi kia tū hei mema mō te poari o te Whare Taonga o Aotearoa. Nō te tau 1977 rā anō ka whai atu te whare taonga o Tāmaki-makaurau i te tauira a te tominiana, arā, i te whakawahinga o Hugh Kāwharu hei mema. He pia hoki a Kāwharu nā Ngata, nā Te Rangi Hīroa mā.
Ngā whare taonga Māori, ā-rohe hoki
Nō muri rā anō i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao ka rerekē haere ngā pāhekoheko i waenganui i ngā whare taonga me te Māori. Kātahi anō ka whai hiranga ngā whare taonga ki te marea, tae rawa ki ngā taone noho mātotoru ana te Māori, pērā i Ngāmotu, i Whanganui, i Papaioea, i Ahuriri, i Tūranganui-a-Kiwa me Rotorua. Nō konei ka puea he reanga hou o ngā tauiwi taiea. Nā runga i ā rātou mahi ka whai wāhi anō te Māori ki āna taonga.
I ngā tekau tau 1970 me 1980 ka tahuri te aro o ngā tauira toi Māori ki ngā whare taonga o ngā taone nui. Ka whakamau atu rātou ki ngā tāmitanga o te Pākehā i ngā taonga taketake me te ōkeke i ngā kōiwi tangata. Ōrua mai ka kaha ake te whanaungatanga i waenganui i ngā iwi me ngā whare taonga ā-rohe. Hei tauira:
- Ko te whakaora anō o te Whare Taonga o Taranaki ki te tono kaitiaki (trustees) mō ngā taonga kāmehameha.
- Ko te pupuri a Te Whare Taonga o Rotorua i ngā taonga a Te Arawa i raro i te tikanga taurewa roa (long term loan).
- Ko te whakatūnga o ngā uepū kaumātua. Nā Mina McKenzie i Papaioea me David Butts i Ahuriri ēnei momo komiti i waihanga.
- Mai i te tau 1982 ka whakarato te whakahaere ā-motu o AGMANZ (Art Galleries and Museum Association of New Zealand) i tētahi whakawhiwhinga tūranga Māori.
Ngā kaiwhakahaere Māori
I te tau 1936 ko Te Rangi Hīroa te kaiwhakahaere Māori tuatahi ki te Whare Taonga Pīhopa ki Honolulu, ā, mate noa ia i te tau 1951. I te tau 1978 ko Mina McKenzie te wahine Māori tuatahi kia tū hei kaiwhakahaere, arā, ki te whare taonga o Papaioea. I ēnei tau tata, i te tau 2009, ko Monty Soutar anake te Māori kia tū hei kaiwhakahaere. Ko ia te kaiwhakahaere mō te Whare Taonga o Tūranganui-a-Kiwa mai i te tau 2006 ki te tau 2009.
