Te Hikoi Museum’s latest exhibition gives a snapshot of the development of weapons from the days before the invention of gun powder to World War 1.

The Riverton exhibition contains about 40 weapons, displaying early Māori weapons such as taiaha and some from further afield, including military swords and kukri (or khukuri), a type of machete originating from the Indian subcontinent.

Many of the weapons are from the mid to late 1800s, with a few unknown dates of origin.

There is a knife and sharpening kit belonging to a Nepalese ghurka soldier which was made in 1870.

There are also firearms, which include a 303 Enfield rifle and bayonet owned by Riverton roading engineer and surveyor Sergeant Harold Welton Smith and a single-fire flintlock pistol belonging to Captain John Howell, who managed a whaling station at the place which was later called Riverton.

An 1880-81 army uniform of the Southland Hussars complete with ornate gold embroidery is modelled in the exhibition. 

Museum trustee Stephen Bradshaw oversees the weapons collection and holds a firearms dealer’s licence so the museum can display the firearms.

The exhibition showed some of the pre-1920s attempts humankind made to protect themselves, Mr Bradshaw said.

“They keep tweaking them to make them better and better.”

The most significant piece for him in the exhibition was the Enfield, he said.

“It’s a weapon that’s been in a war and it’s been used to kill and maim people.”

One of the Māori weapons had sharks’ teeth inset in it and was similar to the one former All Black Corey Flynn used when he led the haka, Mr Bradshaw said.

The collection began more than 100 years ago.

Recent donations to the museum are more accurately recorded, but many of the older weapons have little documentation as to how they came to be at the museum.

Operations manager Karyn Owen said visitors were surveyed about what items they would like to see displayed and many requested to see the weapons. 

“Museums must undergo quite some rigmarole regarding holding and displaying things like firearms so it has taken some time for the team to get all the ducks in a row to organise this exhibition.”

The exhibition is on until September 18.