Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Story of first Maori in upgraded Otago museum

Updated at 9:32 pm on 7 December 2012

The story of some of the South Island's first arrivals, Kai Tahu Maori, features prominently in the modernised Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.

The Dunedin museum reopened on Friday after two-and-a-half years and $37.5 million upgrade.

The Ngai Tahu Advisory Group helped the museum add the Maori word 'Toitu' to its name - which means to be preserved forever.

David Ellison, of Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki Marae, says the South Island museum is a venue for the people to remember their ancestors.

Mr Ellision says visitors will congregate and think about their tipuna and consider their own futures.

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