Sophie Kate Foster

Birds are mentioned frequently in Māori folklore, perhaps because they were one of the few creatures, alongside the Māori, to inhabit pre-colonial New Zealand. The Māori consider the birds to be tapu (sacred), and under the guardianship and protection of Tāne, the God of the forest. 

 

During the colonial period museums and taxidermy were introduced. The assumed superiority of the western culture led to the suppression of indigenous beliefs and traditions. The European’s hunted and killed birds for their archives and to trade, and did not yet acknowledge the necessity of conservation. This inevitably led to the extinction and endangerment of many species during this era. 

 

Critiquing the encounters between indigene and bird, indigene and colonizer, colonizer and bird, and the role of the museum, allows me to explore cultural hybridity in New Zealand and connect with Aotearoa’s natural and social heritage.