PO Box 95
Lyttelton 8841
Te Ūaka recognises Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke as Mana Whenua and Mana Moana for Te Whakaraupō / Lyttelton Harbour.
Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum is currently without a home following the devastating 2010/11 Canterbury Earthquakes. Join us on our fundraising journey to build back better for our Museum and community.
Your contribution will both protect our shared past and ensure the future of our stories, people, places and artefacts.
Every dollar raised gets us one dollar closer to opening!
Te Ūaka is the name gifted to Lyttelton Museum by Te Hapū o Ngati Wheke. In English it can refer to a landing place, a place of arrival, or a berthing or mooring place for a watercraft. And that makes perfect sense for Ōhinehou, the Lyttelton township nestled in Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour on Te Pataka o Rakaihautū/Banks Peninsula.
Te Ūaka acknowledges the migration of people to this place, starting in the 14th century with Waitaha, then Mamoe and, later, Kai Tahu, and moving through to the British colonial era and more recent arrivals. We will tell their stories of exploration - how and why these people came to be here.
Te Ūaka also means to become firm. And this is another thing we will celebrate in Lyttelton’s Museum. The objects, stories, ideas and attitudes that have been brought and shaped here over the centuries have woven together with this special place to create an independent and proud community. As the Ūaka provides shelter for waka, the Museum provides shelter for taonga and their stories.
Our Museum will acknowledge the achievements of the people of this harbour across many generations, and it will tackle some of the difficult stories that need to be told. Te Ūaka will explore Lyttelton’s past with the intent to inform Lyttelton’s future, and it will welcome today’s new arrivals with a unique insight into just what makes this port town so special.
Te Ūaka Lyttelton Museum is currently closed following the devastating Canterbury earthquakes in 2010/11 that caused the necessary demolition of our former Museum on Gladstone Quay. We, along with vital support from the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, rescued our collections from the Museum ahead of demolition.
Since this time we have been working quietly behind the scenes to fully document our collection, repack and house the collection safely and to photograph all items to make them available online, making our collection ‘virtually accessible’ to a global audience.
We were generously gifted our new site on London Street by the Christchurch City Council and have been steadily progressing our plans for the site with award winning architects Warren + Mahoney. We need your support now more than ever to make our New Museum a reality. We invite you to join us on our journey.