Documentaries
Dame Anne Salmond tells stories through taonga in the terrific new series Artefact (Māori TV, Monday, 8.30pm). The taonga are a jumpingoff point for insight into the history of Māori and Pakeha in Aotearoa. The series also raises questions about where taonga should be stored and who should look after them.
The first episode, which focuses on how the first Polynesians arrived here using celestial navigation, features taonga taken from the Wairau Bar and now held by Canterbury Museum. Not surprisingly, the descendants of those first inhabitants would
like them to be returned.
The episode also features an emotional visit to New York by a Tolaga Bay whānau to visit the tekoteko of Paikea, which is in the American Museum of Natural History. It seems utterly wrong that such a taonga should be so far away, although as Salmond remarks, “Paikea is a traveller, and thanks partly to him, so are his descendants.”
Other episodes in the
six-part series will investigate innovation; the power of gifts; clothing and adornment; musical instruments; and the lessons of the past.
New Zealand: Evolution Islands (Discovery, Sky 070, Sunday, 8.30pm) explores our unique island evolution. Tim Balme narrates the series, which will feature animals such as the tuatara, kiwi and fur seal, as well as our spectacular geology.