Māori Reference Collection

TE POU KI TE HERENGA MÄTAURANGA O TE RAKI PAE WHENUA

The Māori reference collection is a special collection of books and other materials about Māori language, history and culture held at Northcote Library, Te Whare Mātauranga o Northcote.

Most of the Māori Reference collection is for use in the library only, however we have duplicate copies of most books which are available for borrowing. All the material in the collection can be searched using the library catalogue.

The collection includes

• Books
• Videos
• Tape Cassettes
• Microfiche
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Resource File - Te Kete Mātauranga

Background

In 1992 at a meeting attended by members of the local Māori community, Northcote Library was asked to establish a small special collection which would father together standard Māori reference resources.

Since that initial request, the Māori Reference Collection has grown and now includes an impressive range of material in both the English and Māori languages.

MANU AUTE

Manu Aute-the bird woman kite that watches over the Māori Reference Collection was a specially commissioned artwork made by the Awataha Marae Weavers Group in 1994.

The Manu Aute is a large and intricate kite with a head and body symbolic of that of a human being. In traditional times, Manu Aute were used to send messages or signals over great distances.

The message that the Manu Aute at Northcote Library carries is articulated in the ancient Māori proverb-

Mā te huruhuru te manu ka rere ai
With feathers a bird can fly

In this context, the proverb imagines the resources of the Māori Reference Collection to be like feathers of birds - those small but necessary adornments, which empower the mind and promote flight.

Related Pages

• For a list of Māori information resources on the Internet visit http://webdirectory.natlib.govt.nz/dir/en/nz/maori/
• Northcote Library
• Northcote Library Collections and Services
• Takapuna Library New Zealand Collection

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