Bringing taonga home
Led a two-year journey, together with the community, Manatū Taonga and two institutions, to return protected taonga to Taranaki after 40 years away, rebuilding relationships along the way.
Supporting iwi, hapū and marae to care for, protect and bring home their taonga.
Cultural heritage consultant. Based in New Plymouth, working across the country.
Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu.
Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly.
My practice has been informed, shaped and grown by my relationships with mana whenua, haukāinga, hapū, iwi and whānau. My work seeks to repay those relationships by empowering communities with the skills, systems and confidence to care for their own taonga, so the work carries on for generations to come.
I'm Trudi Taepa, a cultural heritage consultant based in New Plymouth. I spent nine years inside a museum, caring for taonga, supporting access, and helping reconnect them with their communities to keep them warm.
I've worked on both sides of the glass: with institutions, and alongside hapū and marae caring for their own taonga. I understand how institutions work, and I can guide communities through those systems with confidence.
Every service is designed to build capacity within your community. Most of my work is with iwi, hapū and marae. I also work alongside museums and heritage organisations, so taonga in their care stay connected to home.
For iwi, hapū and marae
Before anything is catalogued or stored, your community decides what its taonga and knowledge include, who cares for them, and how they are held and shared. This is the strategic starting point. I facilitate the process and help you get started.
The documents that guide the care of your taonga and knowledge day to day: access and handling, digitisation and data sovereignty, loans and sharing with institutions, and care roles for the future. Written in your words, to fit how you do things.
Flood, fire and storm can threaten taonga with little warning. I work with you to prepare a plan: identifying risks, deciding what to save first and who acts, and how to recover taonga safely afterwards. Whānau are trained so the plan works when it's needed.
A clear picture of what you hold and what it needs: inventory, condition reports, storage review and practical recommendations. Also available to museums and organisations.
Setting up archive systems for your records: secure storage, organisation, digitisation planning, and ways for whānau to add their stories so the record lives with you, not just on a shelf.
Developing databases for cataloguing taonga in te reo Māori and English. They move away from institutional wording to language that suits you, so records hold names, stories and histories in both languages and are easy for you to search and maintain.
Care and protection, day to day
Planning and setting up a dedicated space for your taonga, from layout and storage to shelving and the systems that keep it running well. I'm with you at every step.
Care, housing and preservation suited to the material, age and history of your taonga, whether you hold a few treasured items or a large collection.
Advising on and arranging the temporary storage needed while your marae is renovated, along with safe packing and wrapping. Taonga are returned safely when the work is done.
Workshops that pass on the skills to care for taonga, including handling, housing, environment and pest management. The aim is succession: growing caretakers within your community, now and for those who follow.
Tracing and returning taonga
Tracing taonga held in institutions here and overseas: where they came from, how they got there and what pathways exist for their return. Archival research and liaison with institutions on your behalf.
Guiding iwi and hapū through the return of taonga and ancestral remains, including institutional relationships, policy, and the practical and emotional sides of the journey.
For museums, heritage organisations and Crown agencies
Policy development, iwi partnership facilitation, and guidance on what doing right by taonga looks like.
Support for exhibitions that centre Māori voices, from community consultation through to interpretation, so taonga are presented with the depth they carry.
Led a two-year journey, together with the community, Manatū Taonga and two institutions, to return protected taonga to Taranaki after 40 years away, rebuilding relationships along the way.
Working with a Taranaki hapū to set up secure vault storage for their taonga and archives, and installing a catalogue system for their records.
Tutoring on the Tiaki Taonga course at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, passing on taonga care skills to communities nationwide.
Every project is different, but this is the usual path from first contact to finished work.
We talk about your taonga and what you would like to achieve.
If needed, I come to you to see the taonga and the space, and meet everyone involved.
You receive a written proposal covering scope, timing and cost, so you know exactly what is involved.
We work side by side, and the skills stay with you.
Whether you're just starting to think about your taonga or are ready to begin a project, I'd love to hear from you. Museums and heritage organisations are welcome too.
I travel for on-site work and also work remotely.