Introduction

The introductory chapter addresses the gaps in the current literature and the ways in which this research investigates and unpacks a critical area of colonialism for colonial-settler nations and the post-colonial museum – how collecting institutions develop and maintain frameworks of meaningful engagement with indigenous originating communities when they are geographically remote. A kaupapa Māori research methodology was employed which enabled the acknowledgement and incorporation of Māori value. Within this a theoretical framework – assemblage theory – was applied to the network of events and effects falling out of the in-depth analysis of a specific case study.