Hūtia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te kōmako e kō e? 

If you pluck the heart from the flax bush, where will the bellbird sing?

At Te Papa, we're rediscovering lost secrets deep inside our collection.

The museum is home to a priceless collection of taonga Māori. The whakapapa (provenance) of many of these precious items has been forgotten as these items made their way from private collections into the museum.

With recent breakthroughs in our DNA tracing research, we can look into the rich backstory of these treasures with the hope to reconnect them with iwi, hapū, and whānau.

Please support this important DNA research with a donation - any amount is appreciated.

Account name: Te Papa Foundation
Account number: 03 0502 0354829 000
Bank: Westpac Lambton Quay
Reference: DNA