Nau mai ki te pānui
o Ngā Taonga
Welcome to our newsletterIn this edition we mark the 50th anniversary of the Waitangi Tribunal and the 60th anniversary of Porirua becoming a city. We also share a photo from a recent visit by our friends at RNZ and look at the innovative mahi of one of our talented archivists. E whakanui ana i te 50 tau o te Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, me tō rātou kawe i te reo o ngā iwi o te motu.
I te 10 o ngā rā o Whiringa-a-Nuku i te tau 1975, i whakatūhia Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi. On 10 October 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was established. Established as a permanent commission of inquiry, it investigates Māori claims and examines Crown actions, past and present, that may conflict with the Treaty.
Discussions over a treaty proposed by Captain William Hobson on behalf of the British Crown led to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840. This historic meeting marked a defining moment for Aotearoa, aiming to establish unity and mutual recognition between iwi Māori and the Crown.
A century would come to pass before any indication that Te Tiriti o Waitangi was to be recognised and considered in the law-making process in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision are delighted to care for years of historical Waitangi Tribunal recordings that have been deposited within the collection. This 2024 media release has more details. The city of Porirua marked its 60th anniversary this month. It was in October 1965 when the population of Porirua hit 20,000, which officially qualified the town to become a city.
We care for a unique record of Porirua in the 1960s, right as these changes were taking place: Birth of a City, by keen amateur filmmaker and long-term Kapiti Coast resident Hilda Brodie Smith.
It was a pleasure to host RNZ last month at our Motutawa Avalon facility, where they toured the vaults and audio preservation suites. The tour provided an opportunity for a behind-the-scenes look at our preservation work.
Ngā Taonga is proud to care for the RNZ audio collection as part of the Sound Collection, providing material for news, podcasts, and other broadcast content.
Our own MacGyverAt Ngā Taonga we have our own MacGyver, Alex Wright. Alex is a Preservation Archivist – Kairokiroki Taonga with a talent for invention. This comes in handy because of all the obscure or obsolete media formats our archivists handle – it's not always possible to buy the equipment they need.
Alex's latest creation is a Betacam tape winding and cleaning machine built using parts from a broken video player. The device allows dirty or mouldy video tapes to be wound through cleaning rollers at adjustable speeds for safer cleaning. He's also made an adapter for Hi8 tapes out of mouldable plastic for the same device.
News briefs- The
National Library is turning 60 and you’re invited! As part of an exciting
programme of events, they’re holding an ‘Open Home’ at the Library in
Wellington on Saturday 18 October from 1pm to 4pm – details
here. There are Ngā Taonga computers
on Level 1 of the National Library where our online collection can be browsed –
guests are more than welcome to visit them.
IMAGE CREDITS:
1) Nancy Swarbrick, Public history – Treaty of Waitangi history, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 2) Screengrab from PERSONAL RECORD. BRODIE-SMITH, HILDA. BIRTH OF A CITY. Collection ref. F38753. 3) Ngā Taonga photo of kaimahi and RNZ guests in one of the vaults. 4) Ngā Taonga photo of Alex Wright, Preservation Archivist - Kairokiroki Taonga, with his invention. |
