23 January 2008
Historical Māori moko collection features online
Ta Moko – Māori tattooing – is featuring in a significant new collection on Victoria University’s New Zealand Electronic
Text Centre (NZETC) website.
The NZETC has tried to take into account sensitivities around the digitisation of textual taonga – precious books – and
significant Māori knowledge.
“Horatio Gordon Robley’s 1896 publication of Moko; or Māori Tattooing is a key historical resource. The copy in the
University collection is particularly interesting because it contains handwritten annotations and several letters about
the content,” Alison Stevenson, NZETC director, says.
The NZETC was established in 2002 and aims to provide the community with free access to digital copies of important
historical books.
“Robley came to New Zealand in 1864 as an officer in the British Army. He was also an artist and became interested in
moko design while he was here. Later, he began to collect mokamokai – preserved heads – which he used as the basis for
the many sketches and photos included in his book,” she says.
“There are an additional six texts to accompany Robley’s work, including a contemporary essay on mokomokai and a 19th
century manuscript produced by Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikaheke for Governor Grey. The proposal to digitise these works
prompted thought and debate on the potential for online access to significant Mā-ori material to both offend and
inform.”
“The NZETC undertook consultation with a range of academics, librarians, Māori, Ta Moko artists and the general public.
As a result, it was decided to provide free online access to the material, but to not include any images of ancestral
remains out of respect for those depicted in the collection.”
Robley’s memoirs, organised and annotated by Wellington book collector and historian, Horace Fildes, are also held at
the University Library’s J C Beaglehole Room. The NZETC intends to put them online this year.
The collection is available at http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-corpus-moko.html.
ENDS