The Ngāi Tahu Māori Rock Art Trust is a tribal not-for-profit organisation set up to support our local Runanga (Māori Regional Councils) in the care, management and celebration of the 700+ rock art sites within Te Waipounamu / South Island. One of the main obstacles in the care of the sites is that most people don’t even know they exist – so education a big focus for us, and the key driver for establishing Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Rock Art Centre. Te Ana is community resource – a place where people (locals residents, school children, tribal members, researchers or international visitors) can explore this fascinating part of our culture with the descendants of the people that created the art.
The Trust’s wider work is pretty varied. We manage the tribal rock art survey and recording programme, SIMRAP (the South Island Maori Rock Art Project) – which to date has located and recorded more than 700 rock art sites, from Murihiku (Fiordland) in the south, to Kaikoura in the north and everywhere in between. As a result the tribe now holds an archive of tens of thousands of images of Southern Māori rock art – a permanent record of the incredible legacy left to us by our ancestors, and a vital foundation for all our protection, management and conservation work.
To learn more about the Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Trust click here
He taoka tuku iho, he oraka iwi
A treasure passed down, sustenance for the people