National Oral History Association of New Zealand / Te Kete Kōrero a Waha o te Motu
2018 has been an eventful year for the National Oral History Association of New Zealand (NOHANZ). In July, the association hosted Indira Chaudhary, who spoke at two events in Auckland and Wellington. In November (27-29), NOHANZ held their biennial conference at the University of Waikato, which included a trip to one of New Zealand’s most important historical sites, Ōrakau, which served as an introductory scene for a Workshop on Māori Oral History presented by Dr Nēpia Mahuika, Dr Robert Joseph and Dale-Maree Morgan. There was a strong Māori stream of sessions at this year’s conference, emphasising the importance of indigenous perspectives on oral history in Aotearoa New Zealand. These included a tribal oral history project in Ngāti Tipa led by Prof Tahu Kukutai, and the Pakaitore Oral History Project that tells the story of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant twentieth century protests. The other highlights of the conference included a Workshop and Keynote address delivered by Prof. Alistair Thomson. Prof Thomson’s Workshop focused on interpreting memories and narratives and probing interviews for historical themes. His Keynote Address illustrated the collaborative process that went into the production of the Australian Lives project and the subsequent E-Book (2017) that allows readers to listen to extracts and immerse themselves in the recordings. Prof Thomson’s Keynote also reflects ongoing connections nurtured between NOHANZ and Oral History Australia, following a co-convened stream of Australiana and New Zealand Oral History sessions held as part of the Australian History Association Conference in 2017. There is a strong vision here to connect more as a New Zealand, Australia, and Pacific oral history community. At the 2018 national conference, NOHANZ also re-elected Dr Nēpia Mahuika as President and welcomed, Alison Day, Susie Milne, and Dr Cheryl Ware as newly elected Executive Committee members. Also in 2018, the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage awarded several grants to support oral history projects n Aotearoa, including research on the Samoan conceptual meaning of land in New Zealand and an oral history of the development of the Performing Arts in Aotearoa. NOHANZ continues to promote oral history Workshops held at the National Library in Wellington, and courses taught at the University of Waikato and Victoria University. NOHANZ also runs an annual journal (NOHANZ), which will produce its next publication in 2019. For more information about NOHANZ see http://www.oralhistory.org.nz/.