Important history recognised
Eight new inscriptions have been added to a documentary heritage register.
Writing slates from the 1800s to oral history recordings from the 1990s are among those recognised by the UNESCO Memory of the World New Zealand Trust.
Trust chairman Bruce Ralston said the inscriptions ‘‘record our history and help us understand how we have become the society we are’’.
‘‘But it is fragile and can be taken for granted.’’
Much of the ceremony held at the National Library yesterday, doubled as a celebration of Suffrage125 – tomorrow marks 125 years since women went out to vote.
‘‘On that note it was really good to have four inscriptions that represented women.’’
The pieces recognised where New Zealand had been, and maybe how it would develop as a society in the future, he said.
The inscriptions will join heritage such as The Treaty of Waitangi, 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition and Sir Edmund Hillary’s personal archive.
The eight inscriptions bring the total to 35 documentary heritage collections listed on the Memory of the World New Zealand register.
Among those accepted is the Kerikeri Mission Te Reo Slates, created by two young Ma¯ori women from around 1830.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga chief executive Andrew Coleman said the UNESCO inscription for the slates recognised two ‘‘unique and irreplaceable taonga’’.
‘‘The joint submission with Nga¯ Uri O Hongi underlines the mana of the slates as historic documents that capture a period of empowerment for Ma¯ ori.’’
Also accepted were the journal and papers of reverend Charles Baker, a missionary who landed in New Zealand in 1828.
Auckland War Memorial Museum manuscripts curator Nina Finigan said the addition of Baker’s work was a recognition of the collection’s significance to Aotearoa’s history.
The collection had been used to explore New Zealand history by scholars, she said.