Rangatiratanga Leadership
We begin Araiteuru Our Journey with the theme of rangatiratanga and leadership.
The first inhabitants of Aotearoa were intrepid explorers who crossed the Pacific Ocean sailing waka hourua (double hulled waka) in search of new lands. Their captains were great leaders endowed with vision, courage, resilience and the ability to inspire others.
As the Canterbury Museum sets out on its redevelopment journey, Araiteuru, we look to our collections for stories that speak of rangatiratanga (leadership) to help guide us on our way.
Politician Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, seen here in about 1960, was New Zealand’s first Māori woman cabinet minister. The Museum looks after some of her distinctive and colourful dresses. Canterbury Museum 2025.42.1 CC BY-NC Portrait: Tini Whetu Marama Tirikatene-Sullivan. S P Andrew Ltd. Alexander Turnbull Library 1/4-020004-F.
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Politician Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, seen here in about 1960, was New Zealand’s first Māori woman cabinet minister. The Museum looks after some of her distinctive and colourful dresses. Canterbury Museum 2025.42.1 CC BY-NC Portrait: Tini Whetu Marama Tirikatene-Sullivan. S P Andrew Ltd. Alexander Turnbull Library 1/4-020004-F.
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Frank Worsley, left, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. Canterbury Museum 2023.8.1
The Great Escape
This photograph captures Ernest Shackleton and his crewmates Frank Worsley and Tom Crean soon after leading perhaps the greatest survival mission in polar history.
The expedition’s original aim was to cross the Antarctic continent, but Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, got trapped in sea ice and was crushed. Shackleton and his crew abandoned the ship and rowed their lifeboats across a week of stormy seas before landing on the deserted Elephant Island.
He then led a team of five crew members rowing 1,300 kilometres in a lifeboat to South Georgia and then trekked for 40 kilometres with Worsley and Crean across unexplored mountains to reach a whaling station and raise the alarm.
He managed to rescue all his men and not lose a single life. It was an effort that earnt him the undying respect of his teammates. Jameson Adams expressed his admiration very simply. “He was the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth – bar none.”
“He was the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth – bar none.”
Jameson Adams
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Whetu, seen here in about 1960, with three of her dresses. Canterbury Museum 2025.42.1, 3 and 4. CC BY-NC Portrait: Tini Whetu Marama Tirikatene-Sullivan. S P Andrew Ltd. Alexander Turnbull Library 1/4-020004-F.
A political trailblazer
Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu; 1932–2011) was Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Māori woman cabinet minister. She was a class leader at Rangiora High School, an award-winning ballroom dancer, a world-record speed typist and a violinist with the Christchurch Youth Orchestra. She went on to serve nearly 30 years as a Member of Parliament, following in the footsteps of her respected father, politician Eruera Tīhema Tirikātene. She became a staunch defender of Māori rights, a pioneering feminist, and a key figure in establishing the Waitangi Tribunal.
She was also known for her brightly coloured dresses featuring Maori motifs. And she understood how fashion could make a political statement. She was part of the group that met the 1975 Māori land marchers at Parliament. Her dress that day, with its red, black and white kōwhaiwhai pattern, was a powerful expression of solidarity with the marchers.
Christchurch fashion designer Fanny Buss created these three vibrant gems. They were commissioned by Whetu for her fashion boutique, Ethnic Arts Studio in Wellington, and are now cared for by the Museum.
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An image from The Weekly Press. On horseback: Eri Tuhuru, left, Korako, Henare Wepu, Henare Rupene, J Kingi, Captain Uru, Perewiti, Erure te Aik, Teoti Pitama, Tiki Ritara, Wakapere. In the car: Front row: Lord and Lady Plunket. Back row: Captain Braithwaite, Kathleen Plunket, H C Waterfield. Bishop Collection. Canterbury Museum 1923.53.754
When Plunket went to Kaiapoi Pā
When Lord Plunket arrived in his motor car at Kaiapoi Pā on 27 April 1905 he was greeted by an escort of 11 men on horseback.
The car was then escorted to the pā by four of the party wearing “a striking combination of modern khaki uniform and flaming Māori regalia” according to The Press newspaper.
Photographers from the Canterbury Times and the Weekly Press were there to capture this striking moment. It was a moment steeped in politics. Ngāi Tahu made its first claim against the Crown for breach of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1849, arguing they had not been paid a fair price for their land, had been blocked from food gathering sites and been let down on many other promises. They raised these concerns to Lord Plunket on that sunny day in April.
Over a century later, Christchurch artist Nathan Pohio was struck by these photographs while browsing the Canterbury Museum collection. He used one for a billboard-sized artwork that travelled the world and then came home to a permanent spot in Little Hagley Park on the western edge of central Christchurch. Ngāi Tahu eventually settled their claim in 1998 after 149 years of tireless campaigning.
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A horse bell from the Canterbury Pilgrims & Early Settlers Association Inc Collection. Canterbury Museum PA.31
The bell tolls for a pioneer
Mona Mackay was a leader in journalism at a time when the industry was dominated by men.
At the age of 14 she followed her mother into journalism and began working at the Auckland Weekly News and later at the New Zealand Herald where she didn’t quite fit-in, being ‘frequently guilty of ideas’.
She later worked at The Press, where she was the ‘lady editor’ of the ‘Women’s Columns’ but also reported on court hearings and inquests. She was likely the first female journalist to attend criminal trials in New Zealand. She left The Press in 1921 a week before her marriage, as was expected at the time. But she kept writing. Her poetry was published in 1926 and she had produced five books by 1930.
She later ran a soup kitchen in New Brighton during the Depression, helped refugees from Austria and Germany in the 1940s and enlisted in the Air Force at Wigram. And what objects do we have in the Canterbury Museum to represent this incredible life? A horse bell. Due to past collecting practices and biases, women are underrepresented in the collection, but we are now actively acquiring objects connected to the many significant women that have lived in Canterbury.
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Mona McKay
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A korowai made from harekeke fibre in the nineteenth century. Canterbury Museum E117.7
An early exchange
This beautiful korowai (cloak) was likely to have been among the first exchanges between Ngāi Tahu and Pākehā living in Wakaroa Pigeon Bay on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula.
The cloak, thought to be made around 1843, was likely given by local Māori to Ebeneezer Hay, a farmer who emigrated from Scotland to Wakaroa Pigeon Bay in November 1839. The reason for the exchange could have been the marking of a relationship, an exchange of goodwill and respect, or a protective gesture for a Pākehā friend or neighbour.
Ebeneezer was in regular contact with the local Māori community. He once helped an injured Māori man by visiting him every day for three weeks to dress his injured foot until he healed. Korowai are made from hand processed harakeke and were a prestigious gift.
This korowai has dyed wool woven into the muka (flax fibre) and is stained with red kōkōwai pigment mixed with shark oil. Ebeneezer’s son, James Hay, passed the korowai to Canterbury Museum in 1917.
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Malcolm Sergant’s conducting baton (2011.174.1)
Violins and violence
When World War Two broke out in Europe, famed British classical conductor Malcolm Sergant was touring Australia.
He turned down a work offer to stay in Australia with his family, thousands of kilometres from the battlefronts of Europe. He said no and returned to Britain where he toured the country performing orchestral works for war battered communities.
After one concert in Liverpool, he was awoken by a German air raid and spent the night on the roof of his hotel helping kick firebombs into the street. Sergant’s actions during the war show the importance of artistic leadership and how the power of music can help lift morale and get us through hard times.
This baton, which Sargent used during a concert in Christchurch in the 1960s, was donated to Canterbury Museum in sympathy for Christchurch after the 2011 earthquakes.
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Malcolm Sergant conducting the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 1948. Image: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
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Reuben Thorne’s Canterbury Rugby Football Union jersey. Canterbury Museum 2005.124.3
Not all heroes wear capes
Rugby hero Reuben Thorne wore this jersey during the 2004 season when Canterbury won the national provincial championship.
It was one of many career highlights for the Christchurch-born rugby player. Two years earlier, Thorne captained the Crusaders through an unprecedented campaign. They won the title and were the first Super Rugby team to win every game in a season.
When Thorne was inducted into the Crusaders Hall of Fame in 2024, his teammate Sam Broomhall described Thorne as "a man of few words".
“He embodies the qualities of a true leader, quiet yet commanding, humble yet resolute and calm under pressure.”
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Reuben Thorne playing Wellington on 24 October 2004 in Westpac Stadium. Canterbury defeated Wellington 40-27. Credit: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
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Gladys Adams’ hiking boots. Canterbury Museum: EC1994.15
These boots are made for walking
These are not just any old tramping boots. They belonged to a New Zealand climbing pioneer.
Gladys Adams was one of the first European women to reach the peak of five mountains in the isolated and rugged ranges of South Westland during March 1935.
Gladys scaled Mt Gordon and Mt Dechen on the first day of hiking, then Mt Gow the next day and Mt Mathers and Mt Matheson on the third day. Just getting to the climbing area was a challenge. Gladys (pictured right) travelled by train, plane and horseback, trekked for 7 hours and spent 3 days trapped by rain in a rock bivouac just to reach the start of the climbing.
The following year, Gladys went to Europe and worked for the Red Cross during the Spanish Civil War. On her way back to New Zealand, she visited Kenya where she climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and shot and skinned a python.
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Marjorie Edgar Jones and Gladys Acton Adams at Otoko Lake looking at part of McCardell Glacier, which flows down from the summit of Mt Dechen. Photographed by Marjorie Edgar Jones. Kennedy Collection, Canterbury Museum 1975.203.17470
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Two women weaving flax. Canterbury Museum 1940.193.80
Whakaritea Prepare
Ko te whakarite ki te haere Preparing to sail
Once the waka hourua is ready, we'll prepare to sail.
To reach our destination – the new Museum – we'll need the skills and knowledge to sail safely.
We'll need to gather our crew, learn to navigate and prepare the resources that will sustain and protect us on the journey.
More stories and taonga (treasures) from the collection will be regularly shared as we redevelop the Museum.
Two women weaving flax. Canterbury Museum 1940.193.80
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