Heritage et AL

Sāmoan Language Week is an opportunity to acknowledge and support the Sāmoan language and its use in New Zealand. We celebrate the languages and cultures of our diverse nation, to connect people back to their roots but also to teach other people about a different culture. In Research Central, on Level 2 in Central City Library we are proud of the diversity of our international family history collection. Our Pacific Island collection is big part of this - and the Samoan collection is very strong. People use our family history collections to trace their family, but also to reconnect with their culture and their heritage. If you search our catalogue by typing: 3 SAM BDM in the search box for example you will find a whole host of resources on microfilm for births, deaths and marriages in Samoa: Birth registers for Savai'i, Western Samoa, 1905-1993 Death registers for Savai'i, Western Samoa, 1923-1992 Death registers for Upolu, Western Samoa, 1923-1993 Delayed registrations...

To mark Samoan Language week, we are featuring a great Samoan resource in our heritage collections whose existence was alerted to me by a sleuth-like colleague. We have a carbon copy typescript of the Samoa guardian from 26 May 1927 to 6 June 1929. Though this transcript finishes in June it provides a particularly valuable historical record of the two years leading up to the disastrous events of Black Saturday .  Image: Reinforcement for the Administration Police At Samoa ; The Departure From Auckland Last Saturday Morning.  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19280426-38-03 The Samoa guardian came into Auckland Libraries collection through a donation from the estate of the Rev. Albert Bygrave Chappell on 25 January 1951 along with some of his other papers which are now part of our Manuscripts collection. The mystery in the provenance is how this ended up in the possession of Rev. Chappell in the first place and why did he have a carbon copy ...

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...

Ref: AWNS19120725-15-1, a river scene in the island of Savaii, 1912, Sir George Grey Special Collections Talofa lava, Samoan Language Week is being celebrated each year to acknowledge Samoan Independence Day. It is a time to recognise, support and help maintain the Samoan language and its use in New Zealand.   Ref: AWNS-18980909-2-1, Apia, 1898, Sir George Grey Special Collections