Rediscovering the collection: Cook Islands material culture in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Artefacts from the Cook Islands have been collected since the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) opened in 1865 as the Colonial Museum. In this article we provide a historical overview of the Cook Islands collection at Te Papa. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the collection, review some of the factors influencing its growth, and consider the possibilities for future collection development. This article is an output of a survey of the Cook Islands collection carried out between 2007 and 2009.