This is a great video about how feathers are identified in the cloaks at Te Papa and what they found about the weaver, the wearer and the birds: http://youtu.be/beIqYq2An4k
We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Saturday 16 June 2012
A Sea of 4-year olds
Last Thursday, Lindisfarne Kindergarten (Invercargill) visited the museum. It was part of a big day out in Otautau in which they also visited Allan Stearne's magical train collection and the guns at the War Memorial.
At first they were split into two groups and accompanied by parents. One group was looking at the trains while the other group learned about Ngai Tahu at the museum. Then they switched. As we squeezed perhaps 14 to 15 students into our little display rooms, it seemed like I was looking at a sea of 4-year olds - the youngest group we've ever had and certainly the most challenging for me to try to explain things in a way they would understand.
One very inquisitive boy latched onto a photograph of a man holding a big tuna (eel) in our mahika kai display. He had 101 questions about that tuna which we tried to answer. After it seemed his questions knew no end, we decided we should keep moving with the talk. But it was really neat to see such inquisitive minds engaging with our display.
We really enjoyed their visit, and it was heartening to see teachers and parents so committed to the early education of these youngsters. We hope to visit them at their place soon and learn about their world.
We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!
Thursday 14 June 2012
AGM Report
The AGM, held last Tuesday, may have heralded a new era for the Otautau Museum. As with most organisational changes, some are met with ambivalence. Founding member, Muriel Brown, resigned at the AGM. Her resignation was accepted with great regret.
Muriel has done every job in our museum - chairing the board, creating displays, managing the collection, all aspects of fundraising, welcoming visitors, answering family history questions, community relations, and improving our standards of practice. She also kept the museum clean and the outside entrance tidy. In short, she was the backbone of our existence for the last 10 years.
Thankfully, Muriel will still be helping the museum in various ways but has left governance duties to the rest of us. In my opinion, this is the greatest loss. Her keen mind tracked the monthly issues of the Board better than anyone's. She knew who needed to retire by rotation, what letter should be written to whom, when the rent and power were due, and what policies needed updating. At the AGM, she found a mistake in my Collections report and corrected me immediately on it. Her attention to important details is second to none. I always felt that if she had been born in another time and place, she would've been the CEO of some big, humanitarian organisation, but living in rural Southland she had fewer options.
She has set a high standard for the conduct and capability of our members, and we can only hope to follow in her footsteps. Thankfully, she will still be around to keep us in line.
We thanked her at the meeting for her service to the museum. Truly, it has brought us to where we are.
Also at the meeting, we welcomed two new trustees: Merrin McCrory and Kevin Miles, both residents of Otautau. Merrin generously volunteered to take over as Treasurer. Previously, Cindy Bragg-Dooley managed both the Treasurer and Secretary roles so thanks Merrin for helping to lighten the load.
Kevin has suggested that we should have a Facebook page so keep a look out for that. We think both of them will bring much-needed creative talent and capacity to our team.
The AGM is a good marker - it provides closure on the previous year and opens the door to the coming one. If you missed the meeting and would still like to get involved, it's not too late. Please email us or come by in person. We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm.
Your comments are always welcome!
Muriel has done every job in our museum - chairing the board, creating displays, managing the collection, all aspects of fundraising, welcoming visitors, answering family history questions, community relations, and improving our standards of practice. She also kept the museum clean and the outside entrance tidy. In short, she was the backbone of our existence for the last 10 years.
Thankfully, Muriel will still be helping the museum in various ways but has left governance duties to the rest of us. In my opinion, this is the greatest loss. Her keen mind tracked the monthly issues of the Board better than anyone's. She knew who needed to retire by rotation, what letter should be written to whom, when the rent and power were due, and what policies needed updating. At the AGM, she found a mistake in my Collections report and corrected me immediately on it. Her attention to important details is second to none. I always felt that if she had been born in another time and place, she would've been the CEO of some big, humanitarian organisation, but living in rural Southland she had fewer options.
She has set a high standard for the conduct and capability of our members, and we can only hope to follow in her footsteps. Thankfully, she will still be around to keep us in line.
We thanked her at the meeting for her service to the museum. Truly, it has brought us to where we are.
Also at the meeting, we welcomed two new trustees: Merrin McCrory and Kevin Miles, both residents of Otautau. Merrin generously volunteered to take over as Treasurer. Previously, Cindy Bragg-Dooley managed both the Treasurer and Secretary roles so thanks Merrin for helping to lighten the load.
Kevin has suggested that we should have a Facebook page so keep a look out for that. We think both of them will bring much-needed creative talent and capacity to our team.
The AGM is a good marker - it provides closure on the previous year and opens the door to the coming one. If you missed the meeting and would still like to get involved, it's not too late. Please email us or come by in person. We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm.
Your comments are always welcome!
Thursday 7 June 2012
AGM
Our annual general meeting is next Tuesday, 7:30pm, at the Courthouse.
Over the last year, we've had displays featuring the Isla Bank District, Farming & Forestry Tools, and Wedding Dresses of local women. Our collection has grown from community donations too. With the help of fresh ideas from new members, our fundraising has improved greatly and that has allowed us to do a bit more.
So we are now looking forward to 2012-13 and what this can mean for our community and museum. The AGM is a fresh starting point. New trust members, volunteers, Friends of the Museum, and everyone else are all welcome to attend.
If you are interested in becoming a trustee, please email us as soon as possible detailing a little about yourself.
Hope to see new faces there!
We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!
Over the last year, we've had displays featuring the Isla Bank District, Farming & Forestry Tools, and Wedding Dresses of local women. Our collection has grown from community donations too. With the help of fresh ideas from new members, our fundraising has improved greatly and that has allowed us to do a bit more.
So we are now looking forward to 2012-13 and what this can mean for our community and museum. The AGM is a fresh starting point. New trust members, volunteers, Friends of the Museum, and everyone else are all welcome to attend.
If you are interested in becoming a trustee, please email us as soon as possible detailing a little about yourself.
Hope to see new faces there!
We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!
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