News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Whaikōrero : the world of Māori oratory. , by Poia Rewi. (2010)
Anyone welcomed onto a marae will understand that whaikōrero – oratory – is at the heart of Māori culture. Based on broad research and oral information from leading exponents of whaikōrero, Poia Rewi explains whaikōrero’s origin and history, structure, language and style of delivery, who may speak and where speech happens. The book represents kuia and koroua from Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Waikato-Maniapoto, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whare. Whaikōrero provides quality examples for learners wishing to improve their whaikōrero skills and offers fascinating insights to general readers. (drawn from the publisher’s description)

Māori and Parliament : diverse strategies and compromises, edited by Maria Bargh. (2010)
New Zealand is the only country in the world where the Indigenous people have particular electorates that represent them and where they can choose to be on a general or Māori electoral roll. Throughout history, Māori parliamentarians have looked to foster unity across party lines while still supporting different political loyalties.
Politicians, former parliamentarians, academics and political commentators discuss behind-the-scene deals, pragmatic acts with far-reaching consequences and blunt trade-offs. Their insider stories, frank admissions and humorous anecdotes provide new perspectives on New Zealand’s political arrangements. (drawn from the publisher’s description)

Ka mate ka ora! : the spirit of Te Rauparaha, by Hēni Collins. (2010)
“Describes Te Rauparaha’s life from the time his birth was foretold, through inter-tribal conflict, migration, settlement in the south (Kapiti Island), and into the period of colonization…
Reappraising original material, including sources in te reo, Hēni Collins enlivens events and adds cultural under­standing and authenticity to a dramatic story of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ka Mate, Ka Ora! The Spirit of Te Rauparaha includes comments by kaumātua Te Puoho Kātene and other tribal members, and an epilogue by former Māori All Black Norm Hewitt. New maps show the location of significant sites, and an appendix details their history and what can be seen there today. (Drawn from the publisher’s description)

The Treaty of Waitangi companion : Māori and Pākehā – from Tasman to today / edited by Vincent O’Malley, Bruce Stirling and Wally Penetito. (2010)
“The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 has profoundly shaped relations between Māori and Pākehā in New Zealand from the New Zealand Wars to the 1975 Land March, from Kīngitanga to the Waitangi Tribunal, from Te Whiti to Don Brash. Sourced from government publications and newspapers, letters and diaries, poems, songs and cartoons, this book introduces the many voices of that relationship over the past 200 years. The Treaty of Waitangi Companion is an important book for students and general readers alike. (Drawn from the publisher’s description)

Pounamu : the jade of New Zealand , by Russell Beck with Maika Mason ; photography by Andris Apse. (2010)
Through the eyes of pounamu specialists Russell Beck and Maika Mason, we explore jade’s powerful connection with the natural environment, its Māori myths and history, jewellery and taonga, geology and technical characteristics, places where pounamu is found, methods of working, cultural issues regarding the ownership and management of jade as a resource, contemporary carving, and its significance in the international arena.
The text is enhanced by the exquisite, timeless landscape photography of Andris Apse, which sets pounamu firmly in the South Island mountain environment from which it emerges in its natural state… (drawn from the publisher’s description)

The East Coast settlement report, WAI 2109, Waitangi Tribunal. (2010)
The East Coast Settlement Report is the outcome of an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing held in Wellington between 14 and 16 December 2009 into the Crown’s recognition of Te Runanga o Ngati Porou’s (TRONP) mandate to negotiate and settle all historical Ngati Porou Treaty of Waitangi claims. The Tribunal panel comprised Judge Craig Coxhead (presiding), the Honourable Sir Douglas Kidd, Kihi Ngatai, Tania Simpson, and Basil Morrison.

AME year 11 Te Reo Māori workbook : NCEA level 1, by Wiremu Doherty. (2010)
A write-in workbook covering all Achievement Standards for NCEA level 1 Te Reo Māori.

The Wairarapa ki Tararua report, Waitangi Tribunal. (2010)
v. 1. The people and the land — v. 2. The struggle for control — v. 3. Powerlessness and displacement.

Māori art market 2009, by Toi Mā Aotearoa. (2009)
Māori Art Market 2009 will be the biggest single collection of contemporary Maori art ever assembled at one time … October 9, 10, 11 at the Te Rauparaha Arena and Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures in Porirua City.

Autumn waiata, by Jeffrey Paparoa Holman. (2010)
Some of these poems have appeared in Kritya … others in the New Zealand listener.

Te hikuwai : launch yourself into te reo Māori : a complete foundation course for Aotearoa’s own language, by Ian Cormack. (2010)

Wiremu Pere : the life and times of a Maori leader, 1873-1915, by Joseph Anaru Te Kani Pere and others. (2010)

The passing world, the passage of life : John Hovell and the art of kōwhaiwhai, by Damian Skinner. (2010)

New Zealand racism in the making : the life & times of Walter Mantell, by Harry C. Evison. (2010)

Papers to conference. Volume two, A collection of new papers, by Peter Cleave. (2010)
Kōwhiti Matariki Festival of Māori Contemporary Dance (2010 : Wellington, N.Z.).
Contents : Said, heard, written, read — Starting points? A discussion of contemporary Māori society and culture — Review of Peter Jackson. A film-maker’s journey by Brian Sibley — Matariki 2010 — Review, Lisa Tomlins and Twinset, Downstage Sun 26th September 2010 — Restorative justice and the foreshore and seabed — Te takarepa o te wao.

Journal articles

Newman, Keith. Buildings at work : the founding of a faith : the buildings at Ratana Pa tell a story of cosmic proportions and are the legacy of a prophet, faith healer and visionary / words by Keith Newman ; photography by Grant Sheehan, in, New Zealand heritage ; Summer 2010. pp. 34-39.

Making a success of it’ : Robert Jenkins (1786?-1859), by Hilda McDonnell, in, Heritage link ; issue no. 90 (February 2011)

Kiwi lessons from iwi governance, by Whare Akuhata, in, New Zealand management ; vol. 58, no. 1 (February 2011) pp. 22-24

Lessons from the whale watchers, by Katherine Ryan, in, New Zealand management ; vol. 58, no. 1 (February 2011) pp. 26-29.

Interested in our previous picks? Previous Recent Pick edition

Interested in researching your family history?
From time to time we’ll be posting genealogy facts and advice here on the News Blog.  Our first entry is on Birth, Death and Marriage records (BDM), which are a good starting place when researching your family history.  Official registrations in NZ didn’t start until 1848 but there are some earlier records taken from church and place registers dating back to 1840.

Historic BDM Online
New Zealand historic BDMs are now accessible online through the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) website: www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz, and the great thing about this site is that it is updated daily.

What is a historic BDM and what information is actually available online?
A BDM qualifies as being historic if it was a

• birth that occurred at least 100 years ago, or a still birth that occurred at least 50 years ago
• marriage (and eventually Civil Unions) that occurred at least 80 years ago
• death that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased’s date of birth was at least 80 years ago.

(more…)

There are very interesting new books this month in our selection. Cannibal Jack : the life & time of Jacky Marmon, a Pākeha-Māori is the fascinating life story of Jacky Marmon, a settler who lived with the Māori,had five wives and took part in the Musket Wars. Tangiteroria : crucible of the Kaipara 1836-54, missionary impulse & impact relates how colonisation has affected New Zealand’s first inhabitants and has shaped the region. The Parihaka album : lest we forget started off as an academic research paper and evolved into a family history and the discovery of new family ties for the author. Other books in our selection deal with the Treaty of Waitangi and ancient Māori myths and legends; you can find out more in this month’s Māori Recent Picks.

Jacquie Baxter, also known as J.C. Sturm, was a poet and short story writer as well as a former staff member of Wellington City Libraries. Sadly, she passed away in December last year.

In memory of her enormous skill as a writer, her dedication to library service, and the lasting impression she left as a friend and colleague, we have set up a display in memory of her on the ground floor of the Central Library.

The display contains a tribute book and we encourage those who knew Jacquie, were touched by her work, or simply want to convey their condolences to her friends and family, to write a message in it.

If you cannot make it into the library to write in the book then you are most welcome to write a message as a comment on this blog post and library staff will make sure it is transcribed into the memorial book on your behalf.

You can read more about Jacquie’s life and achievements in our obituary for her here or at the website of the New Zealand Book Council here .

Nau mai, haere mai. Please join with us in celebrating te Rā o Waitangi : Waitangi Day – a day of bicultural fun for the whole whānau.

Where & when : Saturday 6 February, Waitangi Park, 11 am-4.30 pm

After a powhiri at 11.00 am, Wellington City Libraries will be supported by storyteller, Moira Wairama, with these storytimes :

11.30 am Maui and the sun
12.30 pm Bilingual weta
1.30 pm. Ngake and Whataitai (taniwha)

In between, at 12 noon, 1 pm, 2 pm, we will be providing an opportunity for children & parents to make badges relating to each storytelling session.

Come also to see our range of books on the Treaty, and enter your name for a random prize draw of books.

You can also test your knowledge of historical events which triggered the signing of Te Tiriti/The Treaty by completing our simple quiz – and go in the draw to win a book prize.

Check out this month’s Māori Recent Picks to find out about our latest books, journal articles, and theses. Our selection includes Decolonising conservation : caring for Maori meeting houses outside New Zealand, Maori fortifications, The prophet and the policeman: the story of Rua Kenana and John Cullen, and more.

This month’s selection of Māori books is worth a look at. Items include an exploration of the relations between Māori and New Zealand Chinese  in Dragon & Taniwha, a take on New Zealand carving and colonial history in Rauru: Tene Waitere, and some poetry with Canoe in midstream. There are also books dealing with the Waitangi Tribunal, nineteenth century New Zealand, and Māori kai recipes. And if you’d like to know more about Ranginui Walker, Māori architecture and He maunga rongo, check out our Māori Recent Picks.

Will you have enough time to read our Māori selection over the next two months? We have many books you can choose from. Tāhuhu kōrero : the sayings of Taitokerau unveils the proverbs of the Far North and their historical background. The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand’s law and constitution reflects on the legal status of the treaty, and The beating heart tells about the history of the Te Arawa tribes since the 1830s. Other items deal with Māori legislation, the Brown Pages directory, voices of Taranaki women, modern Māori food, Māori prayers and language. If a study of ’sacred references to the dead’ study, Māori tribes and New Zealand greenstone also interest you, check out this month’s Māori Recent Picks.

In this month’s Maori Recent Picks, we get a glimpse of the history of seven Maori-Chinese families and the role they play today in New Zealand society in Being Māori-Chinese : mixed identities = He Māori-he Hainamana he tuakiri aha? = Mao li yi hua ren . Also, if you are interested in the Maori history of Nelson and Marlborough, do check out Te tau ihu o te Waka = A history of Maori of Nelson and Marlborough volume 2. This new volume “Te ara hou : the new society” describes Māori participation in European settlement society.  All this plus new theses received in our collections, and articles from recent journals.

(Book descriptions from Amazon)

Māori Recent Picks for July includes ‘He pitopito kōrero nō te perehi Māori = Readings from the Māori-language press’, full of fascinating excerpts from 19th century newspapers such as letters, obituaries and advertisements. ‘Maoriland : New Zealand literature, 1872-1914′ by Jane Stafford and Mark Williams investigates NZ literature from the 1880s till the beginning of World War I.