Patricia Te Arapo Wallace

Ngāti Porou

"Dr. Patricia Te Arapo Wallace has lived in Christchurch most of her life. As a late starter in the academic world, with a background in clothing and textiles, it seems inevitable that her research would focus on traditional Māori dress and thus lead her into Museum based research and the study of Māori art history. These areas in turn have led her towards trying to recover indigenous technology."

"Patricia has a wide range of interests. In 1998 she instigated the planting of the Pa Harakeke on campus and in 2003 initiated the MAOR114/ARTH108 Summer school course ‘Nga Mahi a Ringa', to encourage Maori and other Pacific Island students into research via their material culture. She spent some time researching John Macmillan Brown's Oceanic collection, held in the Canterbury Museum; after which she was contracted for three years as researcher for a FRST funded project with Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, gathering traditional tikanga about the harvesting of kiekie and other weaving resources.

Patricia was formerly involved with Nga Puna Waihanga for a number of years, including at national level; for approximately eleven years, she has been the honorary editor of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, the Maori Weavers' national newsletter. She is currently also an Honorary Research Associate at Te Papa Tongarewa."



Biographical sources

  • http://www.pacs.canterbury.ac.nz/people/wallace.shtml 4 November 2016
  • http://www.arts.canterbury.ac.nz/aotahi/people/wallace.shtml 4 November 2016

    Non-fiction

  • "Imaginary Truth or Truthful Imagery?: The Artistic Integrity of Early Images of Maori Dress." Pre/dictions: The Role of Art at the End of the Millennium. Ed. J. Harper. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria University of Wellington (2000): 223-228.
  • Puawaitanga o te Ringa: Fruits of our busy hands. Ed. P. Wallace. Christchurch: Christchurch City Libraries (2003): 28.
  • Ko maru*, te timatanga: beginnings of Maori clothing. Pacific Pathways, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, United Kingdom Oxford, England: Forster Collection Website Project, 2003.
  • "Traditional Maori Dress: Recovery of a Seventeenth Century Style?" Pacific Arts: The Journal of the Pacific Arts Association 1 (2004): 54-64.
  • "Traditional Maori dress: recovery of a seventeenth century style" Pacific Arts: the Journal of the Pacific Arts Association 1 (2006): 54-64.
  • "Te kōtuitanga o neherā: neolithic needlework in Aotearoa." Records of the Canterbury Museum 20 (2006): 79-86.
  • "Pacific Encounters - Art and Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860." The Contemporary Pacific 19.2 (2007): 657-661.
  • "He whatu ariki - he kura, he waero: Chiefly threads - red and white." Looking Flash: Clothing in Aotearoa New Zealand. Ed. F. McKergow and S. Gibson. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland University Press (2007): 12-27.
  • "Jack, Queen, King: Playing Cards as Influence of Empire?" Context 19 (Nov 2009): 43-48.
  • "Introduction to Māori Dress." Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, Volume 7: Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, 7 (2010): 249-259.
  • "Ko te Pūtaiao, te Ao o ngā Tūpuna: Ancestral Māori Scientific Practice." Whatu Kākahu: Māori Cloaks. Ed. A. Tamarapa. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press, (2011): 45-60.
  • "A response to the article, 'A possible pre-Tasman canoe landing site, or tauranga waka, in Golden Bay, South Island, New Zealand' Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (2014), 38: 111-124." Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, 39 (2015) : 133-138.
  • Co-authors G. Anderson, R. Jenkin and D. Horry.

    • Papers/Presentations

  • "A New Zealand Warrior in his Proper Dress, and Completly Armed, to their Manner': Checking out the Chequered Dog Skin Cloak." Brisbane, Australia: Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) Conference, 6-8 Dec 2000, (2000): 11.
  • "Te niho o te taniwha: Bridging the Gap between Eastern Polynesian and Maori, or the Pacific Tooth Fetish." Kamuela, Hawai'i: 5th International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific, 7-12 Aug 2000. In Pacific 2000: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific (2001): 293-297.
  • Ngā tipu raranga mō tua ake: Weaving as a means of measuring wellness. Wellington, N.Z.: Matauranga Taketake: Traditional Knowledge 2006, 14-17 Jun 2006. In Indigenous Indicators of Well-being: Perspectives, Practices, Solutions (2007): 187-190.
  • "Changing usage of kiekie (Freycinetia banksii) and challenges to sustainability." Dunedin, N.Z.: Proceedings of the Combined (NZ and AUS) Conference of The Textile Institute, Dunedin 15-17 April (2009): 127-131.
  • "Whaia Tō Te Rangi." Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, Auckland, N.Z.: Proceedings of the 4th International Traditional Knowledge Conference (2010): 373-380.

  • Theses

  • Traditional Maori Dress: Rediscovering Forgotten Elements of Pre-1820 Practice. PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2002.