Memory of the World Aotearoa / New Zealand

Memory of the World Aotearoa / New Zealand Memory of the World promotes the importance of documentary heritage

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aot...
19/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi was first signed on 6 February 1840. Rather than a single large sheet, it is a group of nine documents that represent an agreement between tangata whenua and the British Crown. Named after the place in the Bay of Islands where it was first signed, Te Tiriti was also signed at locations throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Of the nine sheets, seven are on paper and two are on parchment; all but one are written in te reo Māori.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi was inscribed on the Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Ngā Mahara o te Ao Register in 2011. It had earlier received international recognition when it was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register in 1997.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is cared for by Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand and is on display alongside He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni at He Tohu, National Library of New Zealand.
https://natlib.govt.nz/he-tohu

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aot...
18/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand. This year’s theme is Ake, Ake, Ake – A Forever Language, with a focus on Te Reo Towns.

He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand, was first signed by thirty-four Māori rangatira on 28 October 1835, a further 18 signatures were added by 1839. is an international declaration and constitutional document. Through He Whakaputanga these fifty-two Rangatira asserted that mana and sovereign power in New Zealand resided fully with Māori.

He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni is held by Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand and was inscribed on the Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Ngā Mahara o te Ao Register in 2015.

You can learn more about He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni here: https://www.archives.govt.nz/discover-our-stories/the-declaration-of-independence-of-new-zealand

18/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand. Today we are highlighting Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert’s Manuscript of Māori Conversation.

The Manuscript contains around 17,000 entries, covering a range of topics such as emotions, phrases for life events and daily activities, the environment, time, for example ‘To express astonishment and admiration - He kupu hei whakaatu te miharatanga’. Practical and detailed it was written for both the sisters of St Joseph, Europeans and Māori to help learn one another’s language.

Suzanne Aubert’s ‘Manuscript of Māori Conversation’ is held by Sisters of Compassion - Ngā Whaea O Pūaroha and was added to the Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Ngā Mahara o te Ao register in 2020.

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aot...
17/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand. This year’s theme is Ake, Ake, Ake – A Forever Language, with a focus on Te Reo Towns.

The Kerikeri Mission Te Reo Slates are an extraordinary example of early te reo Māori writing, marking a period of change as te reo Māori began to move from an oral to a written language. Dating from around 1830–31, one slate features the written signature of Rongo Hongi, daughter of Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika, while the other contains a waiata whakautu, or song of reply.

At the time, Martha Clarke, wife of missionary George Clarke, ran a school for girls at the Kerikeri Mission Station. The second slate is believed to have been written by another young Māori woman attending the mission school.

The slates were written at Kemp House, New Zealand’s oldest building, where they are taonga connected to the place they were written. They are held by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga on behalf of Ngāpuhi.

Learn more about Rongo Hongi and the slates here:
https://visit-heritage.shorthandstories.com/rongo-hongi/index.html

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aot...
16/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand. This year’s theme is Ake, Ake, Ake – A Forever Language, with a focus on Te Reo Towns.

The Māori Land Court minute books, 1862-1900 are a record of the hearings and evidence given to establish the Native Land Court titles across New Zealand. They are a repository for oral tribal histories and whakapapa of most of New Zealand's Māori tribes, recorded at hearings in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by Native (later Māori) Land Court clerks. They recount histories, significant events, and tell of sacred places and names, and are a significant resource for writers of history, the hearing of Treaty of Waitangi claims and for tribal knowledge holders.

The Māori Land Court Minute Books were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2012, held by Archives New Zealand

Learn more here: https://www.archives.govt.nz/research-guidance/research-guides/law-and-the-courts/maori-land-court

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aot...
15/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand. This year’s theme is Ake, Ake, Ake – A Forever Language, with a focus on Te Reo Towns.

Tangata Whenua: The People of the Land was a groundbreaking documentary series that took audiences to places of significance across the North Island, from Te Urewera for Tūhoe to Pūtauaki for Ngāti Awa.

Directed by pioneering Māori filmmaker Barry Barclay, produced by John O’Shea of Pacific Films, and narrated by historian Michael King, the series was an immense success, drawing around one million primetime viewers from a national population of just three million.

Tangata Whenua was inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand in 2024. It is held by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.

Watch episodes on TVNZ+
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/tvseries/tangata-whenua

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aot...
14/09/2026

To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we’re sharing te reo taonga inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand. This year’s theme is Ake, Ake, Ake – A Forever Language, with a focus on Te Reo Towns.

Today, we’re sharing the Herries Beattie Papers, held by the Hocken Collections and inscribed on Ngā Mahara o te Ao Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand in 2018.

The Herries Beattie Papers include correspondence, newspaper clipping books, notebooks, manuscripts of published and unpublished works, ephemera, plans, photographs and sketches. The collection records thousands of South Island Māori place names gathered by Beattie through his lifetime of interviewing Ngāi Tahu people. Alongside iwi knowledge, Beattie’s research notes have been used as a source of information for the Kā Huru Manu Cultural Mapping Project.

For more information check out the Kā Huru Manu: https://kahurumanu.co.nz/.
You can also learn more about the Herries Beattie Papers from the Hocken Collections: https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/pages/beattie.

The Avis Acres Cartoons and Illustrations archive has been successfully nominated by the National Library of New Zealand...
29/08/2026

The Avis Acres Cartoons and Illustrations archive has been successfully nominated by the National Library of New Zealand to the UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Register for 2026.

Avis Acres was a comic artist, illustrator and author whose work celebrated Aotearoa New Zealand’s distinctive flora and fauna, fostering awareness, care and responsibility for our unique natural environment.

Widely recognised for her series Hutu and Kawa, which first debuted in the New Zealand Herald in 1950, Acres collaborated with subject experts to accurately depict native flora and fauna in her publications. The collection includes original artworks, sketches, working drafts, ephemera, photographs and correspondence, providing rare insight into Acres’ creative thinking and professional development.

Whimsical, thoughtful and richly observed, Avis Acres’ illustrations continue to connect readers with Aotearoa’s unique flora and fauna.

Congratulations to all this years’ successful nominations! 🎉✨

Learn more about Avis Acres and her legacy in this National Library blog:
https://natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/avis-acres-illustrator-storyteller-comic-pioneer

The Ron Vine Collection has been successfully inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Register,...
27/08/2026

The Ron Vine Collection has been successfully inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Register, nominated by MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) in Auckland.

Harry Ronald Vine was a pre-eminent New Zealand agricultural journalist whose career spanned from 1934 to 1975. Best known for his work with The New Zealand Farmer, Vine was one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s earliest and most widely read science communicators.

The collection at MOTAT includes more than 1,400 photographs and manuscripts relating to Vine’s publications. These photographs offer a unique insight into farming and agricultural life in the upper North Island, documenting farmers trialling and benefiting from advances in soil science and pastoral farming innovation.

In 1976, Vine was elected to Honorary Life Membership of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. His citation read, in part: “Known to, and respected by, almost everyone in agricultural research, teaching and extension and amazingly well informed of current works, new trends and developments, he has not only written of these with unfailing clarity, but has, by deep probing and discussion, revealed gaps in knowledge, stimulated new approaches and influenced the direction of work ...”

A selection of Ron Vine’s photographs will feature in the new exhibition Ron Vine: Photographing Rural New Zealand, opening at the MOTAT Walsh Memorial Library opening on Monday 31 August.

https://www.motat.nz/exhibitions/photographing-rural-aotearoa-new-zealand/

The Coates Family of Ruatuna collection is a joint nomination from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and The Kauri Mus...
25/08/2026

The Coates Family of Ruatuna collection is a joint nomination from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and The Kauri Museum at Matakohe — the museum’s first nomination.

The Coates Family of Ruatuna collections include more than 3,500 items, including letters, diaries, farm ledgers and stock books, photographs, ephemera, korowai, and inscribed objects. Together, they represent more than 120 years of one family’s life and legacy in the Kaipara area.

The farming ledgers, diaries, and accounts provide an almost unbroken record of farm activity from the 1880s to 2000. Community involvement and service were integral to Coates family life. One of the family’s best-known members was Gordon Coates, MP for Kaipara from 1911 to 1943 and Prime Minister from 1925 to 1928.

“The relationship between Ruatuna and the Kauri Museum is particularly important. Together they provide both context and continuity, connecting the lived environment of the Coates family with the preservation of documentary records, photographs, correspondence, objects, and interpretive material that help tell a broader national story.” — Hinurewa te Hau, Chair, Kauri Museum.

Learn more about this remarkable collection and the stories it preserves via the link below or by visiting Ruatuna Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and the Kauri Museum.
https://unescomow.nz/inscription/the-coates-family-of-ruatuna

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