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May 2016

Site blessed, construction begins on
new Archive Exhibition to open early 2017

The site has been blessed and construction begun in the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington, on the new permanent Archives New Zealand exhibition of our three most important founding documents.

Due to open in early 2017, the exhibition will allow greater access for all New Zealanders to documents that shape us as a nation: the 1835 Declaration of Independence/He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition.

On 6 May Kura Moeahu, Te Waari Carkeek, Alishia Mansell and Pekaira Rei - rangatira from manawhenua iwi Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Toa - led a solemn and moving ruruku (blessing) ceremony to clear and prepare the space for construction to begin. This was attended by Archives New Zealand, National Library and Department of Internal Affairs staff, also the exhibition designers and construction workers.

Said Department of Internal Affairs Deputy Chief Executive, and Archive Exhibition Project sponsor, Peter Murray: “This is an important milestone, the first in a number we will see ahead of the exhibition opening in early 2017. We are finally underway.

“This is a very special project which is being developed in partnership with Iwi Māori, and we have a strong relationship with local manawhenua and iwi across Aotearoa.
“Together we are on a journey which will not only result in the greater access and preservation of our iconic taonga, but provide enhanced education opportunities about the on-going constitutional and cultural significance of the documents, especially for 10-15 year olds.”

Archive Exhibition works with new Waitangi 
Museum

The day before Waitangi Day this year, Te Kōngahu – the new museum on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds – was opened by the Governor General.

Built by the Waitangi National Trust, the new $14 million museum is next to the Waitangi Visitor Centre.

It houses taonga released by galleries and museums around the country, including valuable Māori artefacts and paintings that have not been seen in the north for more than 100 years.

The Department of Internal Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Waitangi National Trust, to work together on scholarship about the Treaty of Waitangi.

In April the Archive Exhibition project team visited the new Waitangi museum. Says project senior archivist, Stefanie Lash: “The museum is amazing, with a complementary focus to what we are developing for the new Archive Exhibition.

“Their museum is about Waitangi the place, ours is about the document. Between us, we’ve got the whole story covered.”

Exhibition identity revealed soon

The new exhibition’s identity will be unveiled and blessed in the next three months at a ceremony in Wellington, attended by the project’s partners – Crown and Māori. Until now it has had the working title of “Archive Exhibition Project”.

The new identity, its inspirational values and design treatment, have been developed by the project team, with input from the project’s Māori Technical Advisory Group and Women’s Suffrage Petition Advisory Group.

Seeking change by petition - Ōtorohanga girls in steps of Kate Sheppard & suffragists

More than a hundred years after Kate Sheppard and her sister suffragists changed New Zealand with their 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition, a group of Ōtorohanga College girls are walking in their steps. Petitions have long provided a means for those outside Parliament to convey their views.

Earlier this year Ōtorohanga College students Rhiannon Magee, Tai Jones and Leah Bell took a petition to Parliament calling for a national day to commemorate the New Zealand land wars and for the history of this conflict to be taught in our schools.

Their idea followed a visit to the Waikato War battle-sites of Ōrākau and Rangiaowhia.

Said Ōtorohanga College head girl Leah Bell: “We decided it was our responsibility to take action and be proactive about our history. We petitioned absolutely everywhere and ended up with almost 13,000 signatures.”

And much more than that. They have the support of 400 Māori elders, hundreds marched to Parliament the day their petition was submitted, and representatives of most political parties came down the steps of Parliament to accept the petition.

In March the Ōtorohanga girls appeared before the Māori Affairs Select Committee which has undertaken to consult with the Ministry of Education before reporting back to Parliament.

Kate Sheppard would be proud of them!

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For further information, please go to
dia.govt.nz/Archive-Exhibition-Project
or contact archiveexhibition@dia.govt.nz