Auckland War Memorial Museum to Abandon ‘Colonial’ Narratives

The Auckland War Memorial Museum—visited by almost 900,000 people in 2022/23—says it intends to move from being “a colonial museum” to one which focuses on the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. “This builds upon our bicultural foundation, which in our context recognises Māori as Tangata Whenua [indigenous people],” it says in its 2024/25 draft annual plan. “The other strand is Tangata Tiriti—the people of the Treaty—which includes all other cultures and communities that now call Aotearoa New Zealand home by virtue of the Treaty. This approach includes everyone.” It says it will no longer see itself as “primarily an expert and keeper of knowledge and collections,” but will transition to “working in partnership with communities, recognising and valuing … cultural knowledge.”...