Heritage et AL

This week Auckland Libraries are celebrating Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau, Tokelau Language Week for 2015. So we're featuring a  Tokelauan  album from  our heritage music collections, the 1999 album Ki mua   from the celebrated group Te Vaka. Ref: Te Vaka, Ki mua, 1999, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, CD TEV.

Kia ora, Talofa lava, Kia Orana, Malo e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bula vinaka, Namaste, Malo ni, Halo ola keta, Mauri, Fakatalofa atu and warm Pacific greetings. As many previous posts in this blog and our History Pin site have shown Auckland Libraries is very active documenting Pacific history. Ref: Auckland Council. Artwork by Fatu Feu'u at the Pacifica Living Arts Festival 2014. 11 November 2014. West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries. PAC-PLAF-2014-D-261. A key role in documenting history is contemporary collecting. We have an active and targeted collecting program around Pacific events like the Pacifica Living Arts Festival . If you attended you would have seen our librarians walking around, taking photographs and talking to people. This content then gets added to Local History Online , which is a combined collection of local history indexes to images, community newspapers and oral histories. We are in the process of adding audio visual content as ...

Tālofa lava! Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa – Samoan Language Week was celebrated at the end of May this year. Whilst the language week has come and gone, with so much fabulous heritage content at Auckland Libraries, it seemed a shame to wait until next year to share it with you. The main aims of this annual event are to celebrate and promote the Samoan language and culture and to encourage people to speak Samoan, which is one of the most commonly spoken languages in NZ. The theme this year was 'Taofi mau i au measina: Hold fast to your treasures'. So it seemed only fitting to remember those ancestors from Samoa whose memory is held not only with their families but also photographically in the library's heritage collections. If you have any information about any of the people depicted in the images, please do get in touch - we are always keen to add information to our records. Men: Ref: EV Donald for the Auckland Weekly News, Mau leaders, 1931, Sir George Grey Special C...

The church forms an important part of the life of many Pasifika communities. Over recent decades the streetscapes in many parts of South Auckland have been enhanced by the addition of large new churches serving Pacific Island congregations. Some of these churches make striking architectural statements. For instance, in the Ormiston Road Tongan Methodist Church, architect George Moala used both traditional Tongan forms and traditional materials such as coconut fibre. Expert Tongan craftsmen were brought in to help with the work. The church was opened in June 1990. Ref: Footprints 03324, interior, Tongan Methodist Church, Otara, 1990, photograph reproduced by permission of Fairfax Media, South Auckland Research Centre Almost all of the mainstream and many of the smaller denominations are represented by thriving Pacific Island congregations. Some South Auckland churches hold their Sunday services in 3 or 4 different languages. Ref: Footprints 03313, New home for church, Otara,...

Pasifika at Auckland Libraries is well underway and there is lots you can take part in . To get you in the mood, listen to the Pacific Islands music playlist  that has been specially created for this festival. You can also check out the  Pacific resources  at Auckland Libraries. This includes a range of heritage collections: online resources, Pacific Island family history resources (Central Auckland Research Centre), Pacific newspapers (South Auckland Research Centre) and reference materials at the research centres . There are also significant collections in the Sir George Grey Special Collections, including a tapa cloth book collected during Cooks' three voyages to the southern hemisphere. This has now been digitised and can be accessed online and you can read about the project to track down the other Cook tapa cloth books known to exist. To further celebrate and honour the contribution that Pacific Islands communities make to the cultural mix of peoples...

On 20 October 1976 Hillary College, Otara - now Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate - hosted the first Auckland Secondary Schools’ Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival. Just 6 groups and 40 performers from 4 schools took part (Aorere College, Mangere College, Seddon High School and Hillary College itself). The annual event was then held at a variety of schools. From 1996 it found a permanent home at the Manukau Sports Bowl in Clover Park. This offered the space to establish stage areas for different cultures: Māori, Cook Island, Niue, Samoa, Tonga. By this time a ‘Diversity’ stage for other cultures had also been added. The 25th Festival held at the Sports Bowl in March 2001 involved 13,000 performers and 162 groups from 52 schools. The festival is gathering strength even today. This year’s festival, which is now known in short as the ASB Polyfest , attracted 223 groups from 62 schools. See below for a small selection of images taken at various festivals over the years  (...

Fakaalofa lahi atu. Niue Language Week runs this year from 13 to 19 October. The theme is 'Leveki mo e fakaaoga e Vagahau Niue – Treasure and use the Niue Language'. Did you know that Niueans represent our fourth-largest Pacific group in New Zealand? So it seems highly appropriate to celebrate the Niuean culture and language during this week. The language week has been organised largely by the Vagahau Niue Trust and Matakau Pulefakamotu Niue Okalana, with support from the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. Check out the ministry's Facebook page for more information and the programme to find out what is happening near you. Enjoy the selection of  heritage photos below, which are drawn from the heritage collections at Auckland Libraries, to celebrate Niue Language Week. Niuean royalty: Ref: AWNS-19001005-3-3, the King and Queen of Niue with the NZ Premier and Mrs Seddon, Niue, 1900, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Malo e lelei. Tongan Language Week is being celebrated from 1-8 September. The theme this year is Fakakoloa 'o Aotearoa 'aki 'etau Lea mo e Hiva Faka-tonga / Enriching Aotearoa with Tongan Language and Music. As part of the celebrations, there is a vibrant  Facebook page . Auckland Libraries has a number of heritage resources relating to Tonga. This include the following subjects: heritage and identity, the Birth Marriages Death index for Fiji and Tonga from 1858-1873, traditional medical practices, early photography in Tonga and Samoa from 1855-1900, Tongan art, early Tonga as the explorers saw it 1616-1810 and the biography of the King of Tonga. Also held in the heritage collections are images showing Tonga, so step back in time and take a walk down memory lane ... Royalty:  Ref: AWNS-19000831-5-6, Mafu Prince of Tonga, 1900, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Kia orana, happy Cook Islands Māori Language Week! Running from 4 to 10 August 2013, the aim of the language week is to celebrate the Cook Islands language and culture and to promote the teaching, learning and use of the language in every environment.  Enjoy the selection of  heritage photos below, which are drawn from the heritage collections of Auckland Weekly News at Auckland Libraries and learn a few words at the same time. Tangata / People: Image: The princess of Mauke: A good type of a Cook Island beauty. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19011212-08-02 . Image: People at Mauke 1901. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19011212-08-03 . Image: The Administrator and Staff, Rarotonga. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19050810-13-04 Ngai nooanga / Key locations: Image: Post and other Government offices at Avarua. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19001005-03-02. Image: Rarotaonga harbour, 1901. ...

In recent years, a number of Auckland-based newspapers have sprung up to cater for local Pacific Island communities. The majority of these publications have been produced for the Samoan community.   The first such title was Samoana , a Samoan-language weekly tabloid which was established in Mangere in 1979. This initially offered mostly Samoan news, but over the years included an increasing amount of news about the New Zealand-based Samoaon community. It ceased publication in 2006. In 1997 the rival Otahuhu-based Weekly Samoa Post also began publication. This lasted until 2005, being succeeded by Le Samoa Post until 2007. Like Samoana , the Post included mostly Samoan language material.   Ref: Banner for Samoana newspaper, South Auckland Research Centre