Nau mai ki te pānui
o Ngā Taonga
Welcome to our newsletter
In
this edition we share stories from two guest writers, which mark VJ Day and explore
a famous New Zealand sea shanty. We also remember a stalwart of te ao Māori, share an upcoming series of events to mark Mana Māori Motuhake, and
spotlight a parody opera from the collection.
For the 80th anniversary of VJ (Victory over Japan) Day, and the official end of World War II, Ngā Taonga have been working with Sound History Researcher Sarah Johnston to upload approximately 200 audio items relating to the post-war occupation J Force. This force involved some 12,000 New Zealanders, including a separate unit of Māori troops. Ka rongo koe i ngā reo o rātou kua ngaro ki te pō. E tangi ana, e mihi ana. A mobile broadcasting unit accompanied them and made hundreds of recordings of their voices for a radio programme called With the Kiwis in Japan.
The soldiers and nurses of J Force used the programme to send greetings home to loved ones and described what they were doing for work and leisure. The recordings include eyewitness accounts of the devastation at Hiroshima, as well as the impressions of young New Zealanders who were learning about the real Japan for the first time. They provide unique insights into what life is postwar Japan was like, both for New Zealand soldiers and for the local people they interacted with.
Dr Michael Brown, Curator (Music) at the National Library of New Zealand, has identified a Ngā Taonga collection item that casts new light on the origins of the famous folk song "Soon May the Wellerman Come". During COVID lockdowns, our social media feeds were flooded with singers covering and remixing the hearty sea shanty – but where did it come from?
Find all the details in Michael’s latest blog.
He tipua!
He tangata!
He hokinga mahara ki te rangi i riro ai tō tātau koroua, a Tā Apirana Turupa Ngata i tana moengaroa ki te hono i wairua, ki Hawaiiki - 14 July 1950. He momo e kore e warewaretia, whakatipuranga atu, whakatipuranga mai, he rite tonu te kōrerotia ōna. I tēnei rā, ko te rerehua o tāna whakapuaki i te whakaaro Māori ki te reo Pākehā te aronga nui. Nō tātau te māri i kapohia e ia ngā waiata, ngā pūrākau, ngā taonga kōrero hei mirimiri i te ngākau o ngā uri whakaheke. Tēnā, pāwhiria te paehono nei kia rangona ai te rongomaiwhiti o te reo o tēnei ruānuku e whakamārama ana i ētahi o ngā waiata Māori i tōna wā, ā, e waiatatia tonutia ana e tātau i tēnei rā.
Last month we remembered a stalwart of te ao Māori – Tā Apirana Turupa Ngata. We share this taonga from 1964 that depicts the love and passion he had for recording oral histories, waiata and mōteatea, to be accessible and stand the test of time for generations to come.
E koro, moe mai rā i te urunga tē taka, i te moenga tē whakaarahia.
In September, the National Library is hosting three evening film screenings in partnership with Ngā Taonga and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage as part of a series of events to commemorate Mana Māori Motuhake – Māori rights and representation. This will include a screening of Hīkoi - The Land March (2016), presented by Ngā Taonga.
In the online collection is a delightful little audio oddity – a parody opera based on Bizet's 'The Pearl Fishers'. We're not sure why the long-running radio programme Spectrum recorded it back in 1973 - perhaps whitebait fishers were in the news? - but we're glad to take care of it as part of the RNZ Collection.
News briefs IMAGE CREDITS
1) Warrant Officer Stuart Nicholls of the New Zealand
Guard Battalion records for the National Broadcasting Service in Tokyo, October
1946. Ref. J-0541-F, Alexander Turnbull Library.
2) William James Linton (1812-1898). Engraving of boats attacking whales (1830s). Ref: A-109-046. Alexander Turnbull Library.
3) Apirana Turupa Ngata leading a haka at the 1940 centennial celebrations, Waitangi. Alexander Turnbull Library, MNZ-2746-1/2-F.
4) Mana Māori Motuhake promotional poster. Photo by Christian Heinegg. Participants in Māori Land March leaving Te Hapua, 14 September 1975. ATL-Ref: 35mm-87491-16-F.
5) Whitebaiting at Foxton. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19400814-34-05.
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