Stewart Island Museum

The Rakiura Museum

The Rakiura Heritage Centre is approaching the real world with the submission of Resource Consent requests to the Southland District Council this coming sunday. We' ve also applied to the Lottery Fund for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, so we look forward to the results of this and two other important funding requests in the coming few days.

We' ve now approved $1.3 million for our $3.6 million Quantity Survey estimation. It' a big plan for a small city and we need your help now. We' ve created a Give a Little page and would be happy if you could show your appreciation by donating to our Heritage Centre projects. https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/rakiuraheritage If everyone who has Stewart Island links, be it through relatives who used to live here or who used to live here themselves or took a vacation here, if you could give us a gift, no matter how big or small, then we would soon reach our goal.

We kindly ask you to inform Rakiura / Stewart Island about this.

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We' re looking for funds for this interesting Stewart Island / Rakiura projects. Keep in contact and help us on this trip to build an astonishing cultural legacy for Stewart Island / Rakiura. They are so thankful that they have taken this first important leap of faith as important financiers and have given such impetus to the Rakiura Cultural Centre Trust.

The Stewart Island Visitor Levy Award June 2016, a $50,000 subsidy was awarded by Stewart Island Visitor Levy. The Lotteries Environment & Heritage Fund April 2017 awarded a $300,000 subsidy from the Lotteries Environment and Heritage Fund. The Lotteries Significant Projects Fund June 2017 provided $780,000.

Activities and Tours in Stewart Island | Stewart Island/Rakiura Museum

There is a wealth of European, Moorish and marine heritage in Stewart Island. There are a number of interesting and thought-provoking exhibitions that show how the early Stewart Islanders were living, what branches they were into and how they traveled. The Rakiura Museum is a 10 minute stroll from the boat station. You will be led exclusively by a volunteer who will of course have the opportunity to speak to you about the story of this wonderful area.

Early Maori artefacts are shown, among them a Maori coat and various green stone displays. There is a large exhibition about early navigation and pioneering household goods showing how the early inhabitants of the island were living and travelling. Catching whales is also shown with tripads and whales' heads. The research can be carried out for various historical researches, families, fishing, shipping, and more.