Te Whare Taonga o Taketake Whakatāne Collections and Research Facility houses over 600,000 items in its collections.
The Taonga Māori collection includes significant examples from Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitīhī and Te Whakatōhea as well as the Te Kōhika collection comprising examples from one of the most significant swamp excavations in New Zealand.
The Whakatāne Museum holds a comprehensive collection of archival material, which includes historical documents from the Whakatāne District and the Bay of Plenty region.
The Photographic Collection is extensive and documents the physical and social history of the past century, including images from early 1900s Whakatāne and the wider district. The collection includes 500,000 images from the Whakatāne Beacon Newspaper Collection.
The Museum and Arts Collection Policy (PDF, 437 KB) describes how the Museum will develop and care for its collections to benefit present and future generations and promote the long‐term understanding of local history and cultural identity.
