13 Aug 2024  |  Annika Sung

The Sāmoan Manumea: How can museums help to protect this national treasure?

The Manumea, or tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris), is an endemic bird of Sāmoa, currently on the brink of extinction. How can museums help to protect this national treasure? In this blog article, Annika Sung examines what the collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa can teach us about the Manumea and its entwined relationship to various aspects of Sāmoan life and culture.

Read here:

The Sāmoan Manumea: How can museums help to protect this national treasure?

 

Issued five penny Western Samoa ‘Manumea, the Tooth-billed Pigeon’ stamp in brown and deep green, 1952, printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., London. Gifted 1992 by New Zealand Post Ltd. Te Papa (PH002707).