09/09/2026
Today we reflect on the past century as we remember the Māori Arts and Crafts Act 1926, which received Royal Assent and became law on this day 100 years ago. The legislation established a Board of Māori Arts and enabled the establishment of schools of Māori art. Its stated purpose was to “encourage the Dissemination of Knowledge of Maori Arts and Crafts.”
Following the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, it became an offence to practise as a tohunga and the impact on traditional Māori knowledge holders was widely felt. By the 1920s, traditional arts associated with building whare whakairo were in serious decline.
A generation of Māori leaders recognised the need not simply to preserve Māori arts, but to rebuild the chain of knowledge. Among those leaders were Tā Apirana Ngata, Sir Peter Buck (Te Rangi Hīroa), Tai Mitchell and Dr Tūtere Wī Repa, who were influential in the wider movement to strengthen Māori wellbeing and revitalise Māori culture and arts.
Te Puea Hērangi helped establish Tūrangawaewae as a centre for Tainui renewal, fostering a revival of Māori arts and crafts. Her head carver, Wiremu Te Ranga (Piri) Poutapu, studied at the then Rotorua School of Māori Arts and Crafts at Ōhinemutu as part of its first intake, before carrying that knowledge home to establish a carving school of his own in Tainui.
100 years later, we are privileged to carry the memory of those who came before, honour the knowledge they passed down, and continue to shape the future together. We asked tauira, past and present, to share what NZMACI means to them.
