Selected papers presented at the 9th annual conference of the Archives and Records Association of flew Zealand, Auckland, 6-8 September 1985.

ARCHIFACTS Bulletin of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand 1986/2

June 1986 356 Public Archives and Records Bill 14 June 14 June Public Archives and Records Bill 357 does not seem io realise that a new trust is lo be set up and that the Minister of Imema! There might be some need in certain circumstances lot provisions that restrict access, Affairs has been asked to ac! as chairman for Thai oral records tnat. There is a record of but it is equally important that professional researchers have the opportunity to gain their having received S13.250 from lottery profits to support their work. The old dim limited access to those classes of documents for certain types of bona tide research and archive has received lottery funding lor a number of years, and this year received a record purposes. For example, it is legitimate to protect the privacy of persons, even deceased ol $100,000 to assist with the restoration of those old films. The member spoke about the persons, in certain circumstances, but it is totally pointless to withhold that information Burton film piases, but docs not seem to realise (hat the National Museum is undertaking from people who wsii to use it merely to arrive at statistical conclusions, and who are a plan to preserve them. None oí ihose items has anything to do with the National under an embargo not to reveal the identity of individuals. Although Ï accept that the Bill Archives. They are general archives and records, and do not come within the purview oí has been introduced for the best oí purposes, it will receive a degree of criticism from the Bil!. The member for Western Hurt queried Ihc funding and status of the National people involved in bona fide research, who wi)l find that it does not change the rather Archivist. The Bill substantially improves his status, and he becomes an independent unsatisfactory position thai has existed tos many years- regarding access to public archives. statutory officer similar to the Chief Censor of Films or the Registrar of Companies. The The Bill w'dl need substantia! amendment in the select corarsitiee. Bill has been developed in dose consultation with the National Archivist. He is satisfied Mr TERRIS (Western Hutt): I raise again the questions asked of the member tor with its terras and funding, and with the arrangements made for reporting to the Minister Horowhenua in the House last evening, which he has sttU not answered. I regard his and to Parliament each year through the report of the Department of internal Affairs. response In the debate as thoroughly unsatisfactory. He should be making an attempt to The member went through some details of the Bill and snatched and scratched for answer questions that have been legitimately raised. Instead, he did everything but material, but seemed to miss the important issues. The most important aspect is lhat the answer the legitimate questions to which the Opposition still seeks answers. In the light of Bill is the result of more than 26 years' experience with the old Act; it updates the his incapacity or unwillingness to answer, I shall pose them again. standing of archives and takes into iccouat the relationship with the Official Information They relate particularly to clause 4, and whether an annual report will be tabled in Act that was passed last year, It imptoves the classification of material based on Parliament trota the National Archivist. That is a point I raised last evening, and I still experience. It deals particularly with the matter of deposit of an important public archive, await an answer to it. Ï also asked a question about clause 8 and the power of the Minister and improved access to thai deposil. On the introduction of a Bill we should be dealing to appoint committees to advise the National Archivist. Will that power be used? It has with its general philosophy and asking whether it should be introduced. The member for been available for 27 years and has not been used. The impression given in the debate by VJcstem Hutt raised questions that should mart property be addressed at the select the member for Horowhcnua was quite inappropriate, because, in general, the committee. I support the introduction of the Hill in its present form, and its referral to the Opposition is quite in accord with the idea that the National Archivist should be allowed seiect committee, on which the member for Western Hurt is also a participant. The other sufficient power with which to exercise his important public office. The member must dctaih that seem to concern him can be dealt with in the committee, surely be under considerable threat in his electorate for him to come into the House as Dr CULLEN (St. Kilda); The Opposition welcomes the introduction of the Bill. In defensively as he did today. It is important for him to address himself to the legitimate fact, it was promised in 1982 when the Official Information Act was being considered—it questions that have been raised, the most important of which Í have saved till last. Will was not passed in 1983 as the member for Horowhenua said. That shows his lack of the Government make a point of guaranteeing lhat resources wilt be available for the knowledge oí the Official Information Act and of matters relating to public archives—it National Archivist to carry out the responsibilities that are set out in the Bill? was not exactly a brilliant venture by him into the marier. The Bill should have been Hon. D. A. IBGÍSET {Minister of Internal Affairs): ï shaîl reply first to the member considered together vÁth the official information legislation, because it shows an for St. Kilda, about the point he made on the deferral ol the deposit. That is not a new extremely awkward attempt to mesh the consideration of public archives into the Official concept, but is included in section 8 of the present Act. However, the Prune Minister's Information Act, Incidentally, that Act excludes the archives from its ambit of operation. idea of a certificate follows the Official information Act, and the limit of the information There are rather peculiar provisions relating io deposits and access about which I to be withheld is in line with what is in thai Act. The i-yearly review is for the purpose of wish to ask some questions. Severe limitations are placed upon deposit in certain ensuring that the archives are deposited when a reason for their deferral no longer exists. ciiciisn.s-tance'i; in general all have to be deposited after 20 years. As Î understand it, that I think the member should be satisfied with what has been done in that respect. The simply lowers tile Instil in the present statute by 5 years. Certain information does not member tor VJestem Hutt said that he would like a special report from the National have to be deposited—for example, if the Prime Minister issues a certificate saying that Archivist. The matter was discussed with the National Archivist, who is perfectly happy information might prejudice New Zealand's security, defence, or international relations; to have his report included in a special section in the annual report of the Department of or might entrust the giving on the basis of confidence to the Government of New Zealand Internal Affairs. I do not know why the member should be worried, when the National of any further information from that source. That is totally unnecessary. I am sure that Archivist himself is quite happy. Separate provision for the resources for the National many organisations wiü point that out to the Government, because it is important, not to Archivist will be made in the Internal Affairs vote. ! thank those members who have control the deposit recommendations, but—if al all—to control access. There is no need asked questions and my Under-Secretary for replying to most of them for me, I believe to control deposit if there is a corresponding control over access. The BUS will create the Bill will be well received by those who are interested in archives. problems, because items that were withheld wül need to be reviewed every S years to see Dr BASSETT (Te Atafu): 1 take up the point raised by the member for St. Kilda— if they should be withheld further. It creates a bureaucratic nightmare of continually that it is one thing lo defer access to the material, but another altogether to enable it. The revising recotds that may be 55, 60, 70, or 75 years old, in certain matters, and will Minister has said thai it Is intended to continue the approach of the present Act, as certainly be 30 to 15 years old in security defence matters. covered in clause 15 of the Bill and the other clauses. Can the Minister supply a good The Bill is written extremely clumsily in terms of access, because hprovides in clause reason for Ihe point raised by the member for St. Kiída not being the principle that is 2fi that the information contained in any public archive shall be subject to access under adopted? Why could there not be e system undet which all material is deposited, with the the Official Information Act when the Prime Minister gives a certificate relating to critical factor being who can get access to it? Oause 15 states that the Prime fMnater can secunry, defence, or whatever; or when the Attorney-General gives a certificate relating defer deposit [or such period or periods as he from time to time prescribes. The issue is to offences; or when there are matters relating to the protection of privacy of deceased lhat the Prime Minister may, at any one moment, want to defer lodging a document for a persons for up to 100 years. Those are precisely the provisions, word for word, in the lon¡ period. Politicians have a way of believing that what they are engaged in at any Official Information Act for refusing access. All that the Sdl really state* is that there momen! is earth-shattering, and they may decide thai they do not want the document to shall not be access to those documents, and it is phrased in great length in terms of issuing be made available for a long time. Surely it would be appropriate for all material to be certificates and reconsidering them every S years. lodged, but for the most careful accès* to be allowed to it.. Would the Minister be prepared to consider thai new method of access as the basic approach to the Bill?

Part of the Debate on the Public Archives and Records Bill, 14 June 1984: Parliamentary Debates, vol. 456, pp.356-357. CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

THE ANATOMY OF AN INTEREST GROUP Brad Patterson 1

THE NORTHERN ARCHIVES AND RECORDS TRUST BOARD Jolyon Firth 6

ARANZ AND RECENT ARCHIVES LEGISLATION IN NEW ZEALAND Peter Miller 9

THE PUBLIC ARCHIVES AND RECORDS BILL Anne Bromell 12

THE GRIFFEN REPORT: SOURCES FOR THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF AUCKLAND Raewyn Dal2iell 14

THE USE AND ABUSE OF CATHOLIC HISTORY Philip Turner 16

TRADE UNION RECORDS Bert Roth 24

NEW ZEALAND WATERSIDE WORKERS, 1915-51: WORK, ORGANISATION AND CONFLICT Anna Green 29

YOUTH WORK: ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Michael E. Hoare 32

THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY: PRESENT TRENDS AND FUTURE POLICIES J.E. Traue 37

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LANDS AND DEEDS OFFICE G. Gaudin 41

"PAKEHA-MAORI" - WRITING ABOUT FREDERICK EDWARD WANING David C. Colquhoun 46

AMBITION WITHOUT SUBSTANCE: THE WAIKATO IMMIGRATION SCHEME Cheryl Y. Campbell 54

NGA IWI O TAITOKERAU: SOURCES FOR NORTHERN MAORI HISTORY Jane McRae 61

MAORI LANGUAGE SOURCES: THE NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS Graham Butterworth 67

CULTURAL SENSITIVITY TO THE SANCTITY OF WANANGA (KNOWLEDGE) R.J. Walker 72

SUPPLEMENT : ANNUAL REPORTS 1985/86 OF THE ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ASSOCIATION

(between pp. 38-39)

PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT 1985-86 S.R. Strachan

TREASURER'S NOTE AND STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1986 R.J. Hill

ECHOES FROM THE PAST

A Archifacts is the official bulletin of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Incorporated. It continues the bulletin of the same title, previously published by the Archives Committee of the New Zealand Library Association, 9 issues of which appeared between April 1974 and October 1976. The successor "new series" contained 24 issues (nos. 4 S S, 7. s 8 were combined) with consecutive pagination from February 1977 to December 1982. From March 1983, issues of the bulletin are numbered sequentially within the year of publication, with the pagination commencing afresh with each issue. Currently, Archifacts is published quarterly, at the end of March, June, September and December.

Subscriptions to Archifacts are through membership of the Association at the current rates. (See inside back cover for details.) Copies of individual issues, however, will be available to non-members at NZ$6.00 per copy.

The membership year begins with the June issue and ends with the March issue.

Enquiries concerning the content of Archifacts 'including advertising) , non-receipt of an issue (or receipt of an imperfect copy), and requests for back or single issues should be addressed to the Editor.

All members (and others) are welcome to submit articles, short notices, letters, etc. to the Editor. Copy deadline is the 15th of the month preceding publication (i.e., 15 May for the June issue, etc.). Book reviews should be sent directly to the Reviews Editor; details of accessions directly to the Accessions Co-ordinator.

EDITOR: Michael Hodder, P.O. Box 28-011, Kelburn, Wellington

ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Cheryl Campbell 41 Fenwick Crescent, Hamilton.

Brad Patterson 20 Khyber Road, Seatoun, Wellington.

Mark Stevens c/- National Archives, P.O. Box 6148, Te Aro, Wei 1ington

REVIEWS EDITOR: Richard 3reenaway 1 Snell Place, Dallington, Christchurch 6.

ACCESSIONS CO-ORDINATOR: Kay Sanderson, Manuscripts Section, Alexander Turnbull Library, P.O. Box 12-349, Wellington.

Copyright for articles Sc. in Archifacts rests with authors and the Association. Permission to reproduce should be sought, in writing, from the Editor.

ISSN 0303-7940

Β 1986/2 June 1986

ARCHIFACTS

Bulletin of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand

Selected papers presented at the 9th annual conference of the Archives and Records Association of Hew Zealand, Auckland, 6-8 September 198b

INTRODUCTION

Astute readers and careful serials librarians may wonder when the 8th annual conference of the Association was held The conference in New Plymouth in August 1984 was styled the "7th", while the one in Auckland in September 1985 is styled the "9th" The answer lies back in 1981 In that year, to coincide with the Association's 5th Annual General Meeting a photographic conservation seminar was organised by the Photographic Archives Committee of ARANZ Although the proceedings of the seminar were published in Archifacts (the precedent for the practice of following years' conferences), the seminar was not viewed as an annual conference In 1982 the organisers of the Association s conference in Dunedin styled that conference as the "5th", thus setting the numberina pattern used by the organisers in Taradale, Hawkes Bay (1983) and New Plymouth (1984)

The Auckland conference was a very successful affair For the first time, ARANZ joined forces with another kindred organisation - NART (or the Northern Archives and Records Trust) For the first time, too, there were parallel sessions - an indicator of increasing interest and increasing specialisation in the field of archives manage- ment and use Although a number of participants did not offer their papers for publication, the volume of those received was too great for a single issue of Archifacts Hence those papers which were delivered in the local body/business archives strand will be found in the 1986/3'(September 1986) issue along with the regular features of the bulletin

THE ANATOMY OF AN INTEREST GROUP

It may seem a little incongruous to commence an ARANZ conference with a short discourse on the nature of ARANZ I !fmd my brief a taxing one an account of,the origins, func- tions and objectives in no more than half an hour, preferably less The exercise, how- ever, may be useful for two reasons For those attending an ARANZ conference for the first time, some background on the nature of the organisation might indeed be informa- tive For the already converted, a reiteration might be justified on quite different grounds A strong case can be advanced that, with the Association entering its tenth year, this is an opportune time to pause, to ponder the objectives embraced when the organisation was first established, to evaluate how far those objectives have been met, and, perhaps, to consider ways in which ARANZ should progress in future 2

A striking feature of every ARANZ conference, and I am confident that this year's will be no exception, is the wide diversity of those attending, both in terms of back- ground and interests What(.binds all participants together - newcomers and members of longer standing - is concern for the preservation, the management or the use of records, archives and manuscripts, generally all three The diversity ensures, however, that many points of view will be canvassed If you do nothing else over the next three days, make sure those points of view are heard The essence of any successful conference, after all, is consultation In particular, make your views known to office-bearers and members of the Council present ARANZ should not be viewed as a shadowy body dominated by a group of self-nominated gnomes meeting in semi-secret in Wellington It is no more, indeed no less, than the totality of its membership - i e you Its officers may be likened to directors, but you are the shareholders

THE FORMATION OF ARANZ

Awareness of the îmDortance o'f nreservinn historical records is, of course, nothing new Intriguingly, the first town plan for a settlement at Port Nicholson incorporated provision for a Public Records Office1 Sadly, these early good intentions were never transformed to reality Although proposals were spasmodically put forward throughout the nineteenth century for the proper housing and care of New Zealand's historical documents, those proposals inevitably found their niches with other papers in leaky attics and musty cellars What was preserved was more by luck than good management While some attempt was made to collect the extant records of the colony in the early 1900s, nothing of any great significance occurred till the post World War Two period

From about 1947, the kernel of what today is known as National Archives, which should properly be the lynch pin of attempts to conserve the documentation of our past, began to take shape From the start it was an uphill battle Starved of both financial and human resources, its first steps were faltering Moreover, the agency worked in a very restricted area Local body records, business records and private papers largely fell outside its designated sphere of interest Most critically, the agency was constrained by the dictums and procedures of the greater public service, of which it was but a tiny part

Public moves to press for a better deal for records of all types date from the early 1950s Awakened to the likelihood of further indiscriminate destructions, and sobered by at least one major involuntary disaster, a number of interested groups began to press for change In the forefront was librarians, and a few, disappointingly few, scholars The upshot was the formation of an Archives Committee of the New Zea- land Library Association In conjunction with, and aided by, other factors, this Committee was instrumental in pushing for the passage of the Archives Act 1957 The NZLA Committee may be regarded as the direct forerunner of ARANZ Essentially, the ingredients were the same people with grave reservations about the status quo, and people determined that change was necessary Over the ensuing 20 years, however, the fortunes of the NZLA Committee waxed and waned At times invigorated by infusions of new blood, at times near moribund, its activities were restricted by the reality of it being a constituent part of a much larger organisation

By the mid-1970s, the time seemed opportune for the Committee to break away from its parent body and form the nucleus of a larger, and more wide-ranginq, organisation, one specifically concerned with archival matters On the one hand, the traditional raison d'etre still existed Although there had been some improvement in the keeping of government records, National, Archives still needed a boost if it was to be able to ful- fill even its basic statutory responsibilities At the same time, the preservation of records and archives in other repositories remained often piecemeal, all too frequently chaotic On the other, there were several new and positive forces operating A new public awareness of the nation's history was waiting to be tapped Professional scholars were looking at their country's past with new eyes Local historians and genealogists were rapidly multiplying Further, the reserves of personnel willing to play a part in such an organisation had swollen significantly Above all, the desire for a 'new deal' for archives and manuscripts was being expressed in many quarters 3

In early 1976 meetings of interested persons were held and, as a consequence, ARANZ came into being in October of that year The initial response to the move exceeded all expectations of the founders Whereas an initial membership of consider- ably less than 100 had been anticipated, within 12 months nearly 400 had signed up Clearly, from the outset the Association was fulfilling a perceived need

ARANZ'S ROLE AND OBJECTIVES

What, then, is ARANZ7 Succinctly, it is a registered incorporated society, with stated interests in the records and archives fields This, however, is not especially illuminating A clearer and more precise definition is, nevertheless, difficult to arrive at The Association has many roles It is different things to different people

Most basic is its function as a meeting place for all interested in archives and records, from whatever angle From this stem a number of its other roles Firstly, it is a forum for the membership to exchange ideas and information on matters of mutual interest The meeting of custodian and custodian, for instance, is facilitated In this way, ARANZ is the nearest approach to a professional association for archivists in New Zealand So also is contact between users, individuals and groups, promoted Perhaps even more important, dialogue between custodians and users is fostered Second- ly, the Association acts as a catalyst to generally stir public interest in archives It publicises, it identifies problem areas (for both custodians and users), it also endeavours to suggest possible ameliorative measures and, in some cases, helps to effect necessary remedies Thirdly, ARANZ constitutes the most authoritative specific voice- piece for those with interests in archives and records Some may quibble at this con- tention, but in support it can be pointed out that the Association assumes this position both from its past record and the diversity of its membership While the organisation's past record will be presently considered, it is useful to reflect upon a recent ARANZ submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee " the diversity of the Association's membership (archivists, librarians, professional researchers in a variety of disciplines, together with interested members of the general public) allows the expression of a balan- ced opinion, certainly a non-partisan one " The initial deliberate decisions to make membership of the Association open, and the structure democratic rather than nominative, have fostered its greatest strength

If a single label were to be required for the Association, then probably the most accurate designation would be as an 'interest group' or 'pressure group' For some, the latter label may have a perjorative connotation Without a 'watchdog' however, a great deal less would have been achieved in the past decade

Given the roles just outlined, what are the primary objectives of ARANZ7 At its formation meeting, the Association adopted seven formal objectives, and these were incorporated in its Constitution

(i) To foster the care, preservation, and proper use of archives and records, both public and private, and their effective administration

(n) To arouse public awareness of the importance of archives and records and m all matters affecting their preservation and use, and to co- operate or affiliate with any other bodies m New Zealand or elsewhere with like objects

(m) To promote the training of archivists, records keepers, curators, librarians and others by the dissemination of specialised knowledge and by encouraging the provision of adequate training m the administration and conservation of archives and records

(lv) To encourage research into problems connected with the use, administration and conservation of archives and records, and to promote the publication of the results of this research

(v) To promote the standing of archives institutions

(vi) To advise and support the establishment of archives services throughout New Zealand 4

(vu) To publish a bulletin at least once a year and other publications in furtherance of these objects

THE ACHIEVEMENTS

How far, to date, has ARANZ met its self set objectives' Even a cursory review suggests that, for a young organisation, it has been remarkably active

In the fostering of the care and preservation of archives, and in the arousing of public awareness, the Association has ranged widely Perhaps the most significant early landmark was the bringing to New Zealand of Dr Wilfred Smith, Dominion Archivist of Canada, and the securing from him of a report on the then state of New Zealand archives, together with a blueprint for future development Despite criticisms of the Smith Re- port, and there have been a number, it remains a foundation for archival planning It has been the starting point for subsequent inquiries, inquiries in which ARANZ has con- sistently played a part That, however, is only one landmark Each year, the Associa- tion has sponsored conferences embodying themes in keeping with its interests Although at first, these were confined to the main centres, the past two years has witnssed wel- come decentralisation, conferences being held in Napier in 1983 and in New Plymouth in 1984 In addition, to cater for special interests, 'one-off seminars have been fre- quently organised These have covered such topics as religious archives, business records, cartographic archives and architectural plans, the care of photographs and the writing of local history

In its promotion of the status of archival institutions, ARANZ has been especially vigorous Much energy, for example, has been devoted to bettering the lot of National Archives Here it is necessary to take issue, albeit gently, with a recent writer in Archifacts While that institution undoubtedly still has many needs, and while those needs may be growing, if it were not for the lobbying of ARANZ in the late 1970s and early 1980s (for administrative reorganisation, for resources and for better accommo- dation) then the lot of the present staff would be the more parlous ARANZ might also claim some credit for the recent opening of National Archives branches in Auckland and Christchurch Such has long been Association policy In fact, it was at the 1980 conference here in Auckland that the plight of the 'black hole' and Mr Firth were brought together1 If, to some, it has seemed that the Association has been inordinately concerned with the promotion of governmental archives, to the detriment of other archi- val institutions, it must be stressed that they have never been forgotten The Associa- tion has taken every opportunity to promote all archival institutions, in whatever way has seemed most appropriate 1

Allied to such public exercises, ARANZ also works behind the scenes on a number of issues Each year the Association presents submissions, or tenders advice, to govern- ment, to the full administrative strata, tribunals, local bodies and the like The preoccupations of the past eight months may illustrate the scope of its activities In February, a submission on the form of the projected 'Public Archives and Records Bill' was prepared for the Department of Internal Affairs As a follow-up, meetings were held with the Minister of Internal Affairs, and with the Secretary of Internal Affairs and his officials In March, representatives of the Association met with the National Libra- rian, the Chairman of the National Library Trustees and the Chief Librarian of the Turn- bull Library to discuss ARANZ misgivings as to projected policy directions for the Turn- bull Subsequently, the National Library's recent newspaper microfilming policy review stimulated a further exchange of views This represented the latest in a series of meetings extending over nearly six years In July, ARANZ presented written and oral submissions to the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Representatives, raising questions with respect to the future of the priceless collections of The General Assembly Library following transfer of the Library to the Parliamentary Service Commission These are but examples of the on-going concerns of the Association

With respect to the training of archives and records custodians, ARANZ has been a New Zealand pioneer Over the past nine years, nearly a dozen 'first aid' instructional courses have been organised in centres in both islands On a more ambitious scale, in 1979 the Association organised a week long course, with both New Zealand and overseas teaching involvement Where ARANZ has led, others have now followed Yet, while other institutions and organisations are accepting part of the training load, the Association continues to be closely involved 5

Probably the most conspicuous public face of ARANZ has been its quarterly bulletin, Archifacts As this journal is probably already well-known to most conference partici- pants, it need only be noted that it has won wide favourable comment for its topicality, the standard of its reviews, and its independent standpoint

Finally, although unswerving in its commitments, ARANZ has never been insular Whenever appropriate, it has collaborated with such groups as the NZLA and AGMANZ, and with user groups such as the Ν Ζ Historical Association A happy association with the Ν Ζ Society of Genealogists dates from the Association's foundation This conference is itself the product of joining forces with NART Links with overseas counterparts have also been forged, and the Association has affiliated with international organisa- tions

TAKING STOCK ARANZ IN 1985

Over the past nine years ARANZ has established itself as a force on the New Zealand archival and historical scenes It has achieved much of what it originally set out to do It has won a solid reputation for independence and for preparedness to take up difficult issues, even when the process may be painful Yet a great deal more remains to be done, so much that the prospect is daunting

If ARANZ is to remain a force for improvement and change, two points must be borne in mind Firstly, the Association must gear itself for renewed efforts It must re- vitalise itself ARANZ has now passed through infancy and is about to embark on the difficult years of adolescence Very soon it must squarely face the challenges of adulthood Almost certainly this will necessitate a new approach to the running of the organisation Secondly, it must jealously guard its independence Its credibility as an interest group/pressure group depends on this The Association's independence has been hard won, many do not realise how hard, and attempts by outside organisations or institutions to influence its policies should be strongly resisted

The coming year will be a vital one for ARANZ In any terms the achievement of a decade is a milestone As earlier suggested, it is also an appropriate time to ponder, to re-evaluate and to plan Inevitably, there will be changes in the personnel adminis- tering the Association, but the outgoing Council has already commenced its personal re- evaluation To better enable the organisation to face future challenges, for instance, a thorough review of administrative procedures is projected Of necessity, some concerns of past years must be ongoing in 1985-86 As an example, the Association will continue to press hard for the introduction and passage of a 'Public Archives and Records Bill' in acceptable form It will continue to monitor the progress of the National Library's newspaper microfilming programme It will maintain its interest in the adequate housing of documentary collections Beyond this standard, but necessary, fare, however, it is strongly believed that the Association should adopt a much higher public profile, and that an ongoing calendar of events be presented to members Clearly the most signifi- cant single occasion will be the tenth Annual Conference, to be held in Wellington At the same time, proposals for special interest seminars and workshops are under consi- deration

What of the longer term future' May I conclude by reiterating another point made earlier Whatever its stated objectives and functions, the Association is essentially you In future, ARANZ will be what you want, it will do what you want it to do If it fails to be what you want', consider your own contribution Make your views known If you are not already a member, a generous supply of enrolment forms is available Cheques, or any other form of currency, will be ecstatically received1

Brad Patterson Wei 1ington 6

THE NORTHERN ARCHIVES AND RECORDS TRUST BOARD

From the previous time when your Association held its annual conference in Auckland, we are this morning engaged in an interesting continuity of activity at this first session of your 1985 Conference

As the last item of business at that previous conference in Auckland, Ray Grover chaired a panel which had, as its outcome, the establishment of a steering committee to consider the possibility of establishing the Northern Archives and Records Trust Board

This morning it is my privilege, again under his chairmanship, to be able to re- port to you on the successful establishment of that Trust Board, and to say that all we might have hoped for from that panel has, I believe, been realised In large measure it has been realised because of the tremendous efforts in his own quiet way that Ray Grover has put behind it and particularly the encouragement he has given to all of us

Ray reminded us of the remarks of a certain rude archivist - he hails from Dunedin - who had made the observation in the late 1970's that Auckland was the "black hole of New Zealand archives" When I started to look into this subject in preparation for that 1980 panel, my first reaction was "you rude devil" My second reaction after a little enquiry was to find out that he was darned well right I believe that it was that insulting remark that prompted the initiative which Auckland has taken in getting its act together in the archives scene I must say of course that some of us who became involved since then are probably still wondering what an archive really is Indeed, some of you in the profession may also be wondering I am rather reminded of the British Army Sergeant who had to take the cultural lesson with his platoon He told them, "Today we are into English literature and the subject we are dealing with is Keats I don't suppose any of you ignorant fools know what a Keat is, do you'" Some of us are trying to find out what an archive is Hopefully we are learning

Stemming directly from that last session at your 1980 conference in Auckland, we put together a Steering Committee We made a very early and important decision that the success of the Northern Archives Trust Board would be its people, the 12 members on it and those who support it We decided on the Steering Committee that whoever was to comprise the Board when,we formed it, would be at the level of Managing Directors, not office boys That has always been a very good principle to start out on when forming a new organisation You can have all the Indians m the world but without a few chiefs you do not have a tribe, and with this particular Trust Board we have acquired twelve people who work in great cohesion as a team We meet once a month for a couple of hours and get through a tremendous amount of work We have been largely exploratory in much of what we have done but in this last two years some very effective work has been done Several members of the Board are here today including Bill Laxon, our Deputy Chairman

You will find in one of the booklets that Hugh Francis has put in your folder a list of Who's Who on the Trust Board It reads like a Who's Who of people who really are, not just a lot of non-beings trying to be We have been very fortunate in the calibre of the people who are working with us including David Thomson, the Board Secretary and, of course, our great acquisition was Hugh Francis who is the Executive Officer If I did not know the difference between an archive and a bull's foot well Hugh was ahead of me He did know that there is a difference So we are making pro- gress He is still working out what a Keat is

We formed the Trust Board and we had a series of objectives which we formulated Because the field of archives is so wide I can only at this moment go sketchily over some of the activities that we undertake and propose to undertake, remembering that we are still in our infancy

It took a couple of years for the Steering Committee to get to the point of forming a Trust Board We had to find some money We were fortunate that the initial "seed money" came from the Auckland Savings Bank The Trust Board then made a policy de- cision which is, I believe, unusual in the archives world We said we were going to be a "user pay" organisation and we were going to be totally self-supporting We were not going to be, like so many organisations, reliant on clinging to Government or other 7

public organisations to fund us In other words if we could not fund our own way, then we should not be in business It was with this sort of approach that we got down to work

Apart from the very real initial donation from the Auckland Savings Bank, we have been entirely self sufficient all the way through and I hope we will always be able to continue that way Basically we believe that we should be in business as a Trust Board firstly to provide a service, secondly that anyone who gets the service should pay for it, and thirdly, any people who contribute to our supplying of the service should in turn be paid In short, we are going back very basically to a value for money philo- sophy, for all who are involved

When we got started as a Board, we found that we needed an Executive Officer so we recruited Hugh and that was one of the best moves ever to happen in archives He has gone around on a part-time basis doing all sorts of innovative things First of all he makes speeches", a lot of speeches, particularly to groups like Rotary Clubs and so on He is a Past District Governor also I hope there are not too many Rotan ans here today because I am going to tell you that they are of an age-group that has some relevance to archives However, they have been wonderful The Rotary Clubs of Auckland have given him a tremendous response Then, he has been making a great many contacts in the business commumty Our basic purpose has been to create an awareness that archives are important It is so easy in a fast-moving community like Auckland where there is a tremendous amount of history, for a lot of that history to finish up in the Pikes Point Tip or the Whitford Tip, largely due to a lack of awareness of the importance of the records that are very much part of our heritage

We put a lot of emphasis on the business commumty Whatever you say about the rest of New Zealand - I have to be very careful, this is a national conference - we in Auckland are very proud of the fact that the commerce of New Zealand had its real genesis in Auckland There may have been strong emphasis on other aspects of our heritage in other parts of New Zealand but Auckland is essentially a business community That is why it began and that is how its whole history has been structured, particularly centered as it is on its port and maritime heritage So we got Hugh to go around the town and whenever someone looks like knocking a building over, Francis is in there flat out making sure that they don't send their old records in the wrong direction We have many successes already in that respect

The second great area of activity is our concentration on Local Government Several of us have some identity, for better or for worse, with various aspects of local government We started up the Trust Board at a time when the Town Clerks, who are great supporters of archives, were becoming aware that they had archives res- ponsibilities under their legislation but they were not sure about how to go about it

Now, where there is a need in this world you try to fill it and make people pay for it In local government we have both filled it and they have paid for it We have kept going financially and we have had a very great support in this regard from Nation- al Archives who now have two, and, hopefully before long, three professional archivists here in Auckland whereas two years ago there were none There is not only Mark Stevens who is the Regional Archivist but also Rachel Lilburn who came to Auckland especially to do the local government job Sheworks in a partnership arrangement whereby the Northern Archives Trust Board encourages all the local bodies to get some work done on their archives and we supply the service to them in co-operation with National Archives National Archives supplies Rachel and we organise the service in a very cordial relationship which is going from strength to strength We are also look- ing at other owners of archives whom we could encourage to preserve what they have

We do have some potential problems It would only need the whole of the business community to suddenly get enthusiastic about sending their archives into us and we would have a very real problem because we have nowhere to put them But at this point I must make very, very clear that we do not see ourselves as a new organisation com- peting with existing repositories So what are the Trust Board's roles7

We are achieving our first role, which is to encourage people This becomes largely a question of identifying archives, creating awareness in others of potentially valuable material We provide a way to give effect to this awareness We are already into a limited form of consultancy service for businesses and of course a very large service for local government We see ourselves as interceptors Our job is to identify, to 3

intercept and to make sure that nothing is lost, so that material comes to a point where it needs sorting We see .ourselves as an organisation which can introduce sorting and then appraisal (We do stress that appraisal is a matter for professional and not a matter for enthusiastic amateurs, even though some have great dedication ) At the moment, although we have various ways of storing things which we collect, we have yet to obtain premises in which to sort We are still emerging and maturing

We are very well aware that we have a limited role to play and that our job is really that of providing a conduit through which archival material flows We help arrange sorting, we organise the appraisal by the professional and then reach the key point where we then pass what is sorted and appraised over to a recognised repository It is not the business of the Northern Archives Trust to become a collector We already have several very good repositories in Auckland, there is a lot of room for im- provement, but they are very good and they are the collectors to which we ultimately channel material So we are an identifier, a rescuer, a co-ordmator, a facilitator and a conduit We are fortunate that we have built up a very good rapport with the existing repositories in Auckland We have a tremendously good relationship with National Archives Whenever any question arises as to whether we are getting into areas that belong to others, it is immediately resolved because of the mutual respect that exists

I want finally to touch on a problem that Brad Patterson also touched on and I want to bring a slightly different perspective to it You never go into a new situa- tion without then adding a sliqhtly larger or, better still, a greatly larger dimen- sion Your conference in 1980 left behind the opportunity for a new dimension in archives that emerged in the form of a Northern Archives Trust Board I believe that unless at this conference you go away with something which is a challenge to grapple with from here on, then it might be a waste of time assembling here at all For this reason, I want to take up finally the question of the training of archives personnel I came into the archives field green and completely 'fre h', with no preconceived ideas It appears to me that there are three levels of human contribution in the archives field At the top level you have got the professionals, at the second level you have got the non-professional people who are working on a paid, full-time or part- time basis without professional qualifications, at the bottom level there are the volunteers There are so many of you here today, who are enthusiastic, who want to do something, who have a contribution to make and who are trying to find a way to make that contribution I want to suggest, with great respect to all of the professional people and to ARANZ itself, that for too long New Zealand has been picking at the problem of human resources in archives and not approaching it on a broad enough scale It is very apparent to me and to my Board that we can gather all the material under the sun and we can get all our mates to make darn sure that their material arrives on our door-step but if we do not have the people to work on it, either professionally or as volunteers, then there is no way in the wide world we are going to handle it All we will do is to acquire for ourselves an unresolvable problem

It has become apparent to me in the past couple of years that is is the lack of training facilities which can tap this great human resource that is the biggest weak- ness on the New Zealand archives scene It is the Achilles Heel of archives in this country I simply want to raise with you and with your Association, both professionals and enthusiasts in the field, the fact that the biggest challenge facing archives in the next decade is going to be the training and utilising of the great human resource that is available to work in the archives field at each of the professional, technical and volunteer levels Unless that challenge is tackled and resolved then archives in all its worthwhile purposes, will do much less than half the job that it is capable of doing

Jolyon Firth Auckland 9

ARANZ AND RECENT ARCHIVES LEGISLATION IN NEW ZEALAND

I have been asked by Sherwood Young, President of ARANZ, to speak on behalf of the Association on its involvement in recent archives legislation in this county I'm not sure exactly why he asked me, but on reflection I suppose it could have been because I have been a participant in drafting submissions for ARANZ on several pieces of such legislation On the other hand, the real reason could have been because he couldn't find anyone else to take the job1

Whatever, I propose to say something about the following Acts/Bills, all of which touch very much on the concerns of most members of the Association -

(a) The Local Government Amendment (No 3) Act 1977

(b) The Official Information Act 1982

(c) The Public Archives and Records Bill 1984

There are also other areas of legislation with which ARANZ has involved itself, such as the revisions of acts to do with births, deaths and marriages, but time does not permit me to discuss these

In looking back over this legislation and what ARANZ has lobbied for, one thing stands out time and time again - the strengthening of National Archives as the hub of the archives scene in New Zealand has been emphasised as an absolute necessity, whether in terms of revision of its statutory powers to cope with changing circumstances, or in terms of resources generally This Association has fought long and hard in the past nine years for this objective1 The reason for this push has been the belief of succes- sive Councils that without a strong National Archives, almost inevitably the areas which expect leadership, advice and assistance,e g local authorities, will not get it, and the cause of archives will be the poorer

(a) The Local Government Amendment (No 3) Act 1977

However, it was in the field of local authority archives legislation that the Association first became involved, back in 1977 The origins of the archives clauses in the Bill go back to the Association's predecessor, the Archives Committee of the New Zealand Library Association, which lobbied for protection of,and access to, such archives Their efforts met with success

After having examined the relevant clauses in the Bill, Council decided that a submission on them was called for The mam points of the written submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee were as follows -

1 Local authorities should be prohibited from destroying any local archives without the authority of the Chief Archivist of National Archives The Bill proposed that only certain categories would receive such protection

2 The Chief Archivist should have the power to inspect local archives, current and semi-current records held by local authorities The Council felt that without such an authority similar to that existing in the Archives Act 1957, good records-keeping practices and proper storage of archives would not always occur

3 The powers under (2) above should be able to be delegated to appropriate local archivists

4 There should be penalties for breaches of provisions of the Act None was provided for in the Bill, and it was considered that without teeth, some local authorities would ignore their responsibilities

The submission also made a call for more resources for National Archives to cope with the workload which would result from the passing of the Bill In support of the written submission, a deputation also appeared before the Select Committee However, it was all to no avail as no amendments were made to the archives clauses, the Government of the day being more concerned with getting the Bill passed than its quality It was my first experience of the Parliamentary system at work - and a disillusioning one, too, I might say

The resulting Act contained the following provisions (Section 256-259) -

1 Certain categories of 'local archives' specified by the Chief Archivist in the Gazette could not be destroyed and had to be protected There was pro- vision for their transfer to National Archives if they were not wanted by local authorities

2 Local authorities were empowered to preserve any other local archives not so gazetted

3 Following on from the preservation requirements, power was given to establish, either singly or jointly, repositories to house local archives, and also to deposit same in approved repositories

4 Documents of local interest could be acquired for preservation

5 Access to local archives, and various uses were provided for

The key provision in all this was, in my opinion, the one specifying public- ation in the Gazette of certain classes of protected 'local archives' In due course, a schedule of these was published, in 1978 1 It was admirably comprehen- sive and gathered in virtually everything one would have wished to see preserved However, following political pressure from local authorities, who opposed its 'comprehensive nature', it was scrapped and replaced in 1980 by one containing what might be described as the 'hard core' archives, but little else2 A sorry end to the Association's first foray into the archives legislation arena

Official Information Act 1982

Following hard on the heels of this came the Official Information Bill This grew out of the Report of the Committee on Official Information to which ARANZ made a submission in October 1978 3 The Association's submission was wide-ranging and supported the basic concept of Freedom of Information In view of its nature, I will set it out in some detail -

1 ARANZ supported access to official records and archives, with certain care- fully defined exceptions, as a citizen's right and not a privilege

2 It supported a citizen's right to personal privacy in respect of confidential data held by Government and other agencies

3 It supported reform of the Official Secrets Act 1951 vis-à-vis freedom of information

In particular, with regard to archives, it -

4 Wanted enforcement of the existing prohibition on destruction of official information without the authority of National Archives, plus appeals against destruction

5 Supported permanent and adequately equipped accommodation for National Archives, and other resources to meet its statutory obligations

6 Urged modernisation and reorganisation of Government departmental records systems to meet freedom of information demands

7 Supported access by individuals to their own personal records held by the State 11

8 Supported freedom of information legislation vis-a-vis the Archives Act 1957, which referred to control of official information

9 Requested reform of methods for declassifying official information and a re- view of the place of classified information held by National Archives

10 Opposed National Archives having security classified records which were not available It said "Records in the National Archives are part of this country's heritage, and should be open to all"

11 Urged Government departments be given space to hold classified records

12 Proposed that all classified records be available after 30 years unless the relevant Minister authorised a further extension, which should only be for a maximum of a further 30 years

When the Official Information Bill was before Parliament, ARANZ made two written submissions to the Select Committee concerned, supporting what it had said to the Committee on Official Information and making suggestions concerning further free- ing up of such information

Public Archives and Records Bill 1984

Talk of revision of the Archives Act 1957 has been around since at least the early 1970s, and particularly so since 1977 At the opening of the present premisi of National Archives in that year, the Minister of Internal Affairs extended an invitation to all groups to make submissions on the Act Following Dr Wilfred Smith's visit and his Report, published in mid-1978,4 the Association held in September that year a seminar to consider his recommendations, a goodly number of which proposed changes to the Act At this, the same Minister, the Hon D A Highet, said "It is something of a fortunate coincidence that the Government proposes to introduce revised archives legislation next year and my department is working towards this end" 5

Despite ARANZ lobbying intensively both immediately following this seminar and in the subsequent six years, it was not until 13 June 1984 that a new archives bill was introduced into the House In his introduction speech, Mr Highet said, and I want to quote him at some length

The Bill provides an updated framework for the management of New Zealand's public archives The new Act will replace the present Archives Act 1957, which has been due for revision for some time The Bill provides for the management of public archives by the National Archives Legislation alone cannot sustain an effective National Archives How- ever, appropriate legislation', together with sufficient resources and suitable accommodation can aid it The Bill is part of a broader approach the Government is taking towards strengthening our National Archives 6

However, as you all know, the following day Parliament was dissolved and the Bill lapsed

The new Labour Government took the initiative later that year by using the Bill as a discussion document, seeking comment on it from a wide range of groups and individuals Submissions closed early this year The Association, as one would expect, was asked for, and made, a lengthy submission It opened with these words

The decision to enact new legislation may be considered, at least partially, an outcome of vigorous debate in the late 1970s and early 1980s as to the optimum blueprint for New Zealand's archival future, debate in which ARANZ played an important stimulatory part 12

And, although it noted with pleasure that many of the recommendations arising from previous inquiries had been incorporated into the Bill, as introduced, it stated " it is a matter of serious concern that several fundamental proposals have seemingly, been either ignored or downplayed " Specifically these were -

1 The lack of an Archives Council or Board of Trustees and

2 The absolute necessity to upgrade the status of National Archives as an institution of Government, for which further legislative provision was needed e g direct access to the Minister, and presentation by both National Archives and the Advisory Council of annual reports to Parliament

The Association's Council, in commenting on existing clauses in the Bill, inter alia, foresaw problems with the 50 years transfer clause, it wanted a 30 year access rule, and wanted provision to be made for appeals against destruction of records

No public announcement has yet been made on what is to eventuate from these submissions

In conclusion, I trust I have shown to you that during the nine years of its existence, ARANZ has not been idle when it comes to action with regard to legis- lation pertaining to archives - Government, local authority, or whatever May this continue to be the case1

Peter Miller Hocken Library

REFERENCE

1 Ν z Gazette No 73, 24 August 1978, ρ 2373-2376

2 ibid No 63, 5 June 1980, ρ 1695

3 New Zealand Committee on Official Information Towards open Government 2v Wn, Government Printer, 1981

4 W I Smith Archives in New Zealand, a report Wn, ARANZ, 1978

5 Archifacts No 7 & 8 n s September - December 1978, ρ 3

6 Ν ζ Parliamentary Debates Vol 456, pp324-325

THE PUBLIC ARCHIVES AND RECORDS BILL

As a member of ARANZ Council and also as President of the New Zealand Society of Genal- ogists, I appreciate having the opportunity to put before the Minister and those attend- ing this conference, various points relating to the proposed Public Records and Archives Bill Comments made will largely reflect the feelings of the NZSG Council and member- ship, but firstly some background information about the Society of Genealogists

The Society as at December 1984 had a membership of 4251, almost all of whom live within New Zealand Membership has doubled in the last three years and new members are currently joining at the rate of 100 per month With the annual membership renewal rate in excess of 90% and the rapid growth of interest in family history research, I con- fidently expect membership to exceed 8000 by the end of 1989 13

Society members are the largest body of volunteers involved in assisting with the indexing, transcribing and locating of archival material Work is done for National Archives, Church Archives, Schools, Libraries and Museums throughout the country All members appreciate the value of archival records and those working on transcribing and indexing projects give of their time to aid the preservation of and provide better access to, the original material Members are also contributing to the history of New Zealand and its people by publishing the results of their painstaking research As part of that research and to authenticate their work these people must have access to archival records Many Society members are currently involved in researching the lives of persons for inclusion in the Dictionary of Biography

Interest in family history research often leads to an interest in and research of the history of a locality, a trade, profession or religion To ensure that the lives and times of average, ordinary New Zealanders are preserved in well researched writings which are the work of laymen and women, as well as by academics for whom access has been more readily granted, it is imperative that the needs of the user groups such as ours are recognised

While agreeing with much of the existing or proposed provisions of the Public Records and Archives Bill there are some clauses with which we are not in agreement These are as follows -

1 In the opinion of the Society's Council the provision of "a special committee appointed by the Minister" (Clause 8 sub-clause 1) is completely inadequate We consider 1t imperative that a fully representative Archives Council or Board of Trustees, as is recommended in the Wards Report, be constituted Such a body would advise the Minister and the National Archivist on matters relating to the develop- ment of National Archives

We also consider it important that representatives of 'user groups' such as the Society, whose members are involved in extensive voluntary work in and for archival repositories or in using archive records for research purposes, be included on such a Council or Board

2 Powers of National Archivist (Clause 10, sub-clauses c, d, e, f) Policy decisions relating to the control of admission of the public to National Archives, the exhibi- ting and publishing of archival material, the authorising the making or suoplying of copies of public archives and the charging of fees for services, should,we con- sider, properly be the responsibility of an Archives Council, to which representa- tions could be made Only by having access to a body such as an Archives Council can the reasonable requests of the many 'users' of archives receive full consider- ation

The importance to the genealogist and students of history, demography and sociology of having access to archival records which are part of the national heritage of all New Zealanders should not be overlooked Users have rights, as do custodians and the preservers of records and ways must be found to provide the best possible work- ing relations between all involved

The forward-thinking New South Wales Archives Authority which is independent of the Minister, has been responsible for making available for sale to libraries and interested groups, film copy of archival records which are a veritable treasure trove for family history researchers We consider that similar action could and should be taken in New Zealand particularly relating to ships' passenger lists - pre-1900, birth, death and marriage registrations, indexes to probates, and other heavily used material

3 Power of Minister and National Archivist to defer deposit (Clause 13 )

We consider that the provision for either the Minister or the National Archivist to have the power to defer the deposit of certain public archives, to be completely impractical and unworkable There must be one person with the final authority and for this purpose it should rest with the National Archivist This would ensure that there was no abdication of responsibility as would be possible if the authority were vested in two individuals 14

4 Public Access (Clause 27 and 28)

While it is accepted that the National Archivist, in consultation with depositors of the archives, may exercise discretion in permitting access to records, it is suggested that in Clause 27 a period of 30 years rather than 50 years might be more appropriate English law provides for a 30-year period

The suggestion that an embargo of 100 years be placed on material for the protection of the privacy of a natural person would seem in most cases to be excessive Consideration could be given to the maximum embargo being 100 years from the birth year of the individual to whom the records pertain

An Archives Council or Board of Trustees could consider requests for access and make recommendations to the National Archivist

Members of the Society are appreciative of the assistance received from National Archives' staff, whether in person or by correspondence They are also aware of the lack of adequate staffing and financial resources available to this department which seems to have been regarded by successive governments as a storehouse of old records rather than as a valuable repository containing documents relating to the history of our country and its people and therefore part of our heritage

We sincerely hope the time has come for a change for the better My thanks to the organising committee of this 1985 ARANZ Conference for inviting me to put before this audience the views of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists' Council

Anne Bromell Auckland

THE GRIFFEN REPORT SOURCES FOR THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF AUCKLAND

In the second half of 1984 the History Department of the University of Auckland hosted the visit of a Ful bright'fellow, Professor Clyde Griffen, and his wife, Sally The Griffens worked jointly to produce a report on the sources available for the study of social history of Auckland 1 As they propose themselves to publish some of their findings this paper confines itself to a brief account of the background to the project, its scope and its outcome

Over the last two decades, urban history and community history have been burgeoning fields in the United States and the United Kingdom However the 'new social history', under which heading these two fields usually come, although stimulating some research in New Zealand, has so far resulted in few publications Some good pioneering work has been done by David Pearson, Miles Fairburn and others in Wellington, and, in Dunedin, Erik Olssen and Tom Brooking have had students working on an in-depth study of the suburb of Caversham In Auckland we have fallen behind Apart from the major works of Russell Stone and Graham Bush, little has been written on Auckland history The fate of the Auckland provincial history, planned and started in the 1950s and never completed, is a sorry testimony to the lack of interest in the past of the region Geographers have, in fact, shown themselves more active in this field than historians Several of the historians in Auckland were keen to remedy this situation, but we were also conscious of our ignorance of the records on which local studies could be based We felt that before we could set students to work in the area, we needed a thorough appraisal of the sources available 15

For this reason, in 1982, we formulated a request to Fulbright to fund a visiting research scholar with expertise in the field of urban and community studies who would undertake a feasibility study for research into the social history of Auckland We wanted someone who had worked in the 'new social history' using the research methodologies developed in the 1960s and 1970s to answer a wide range of questions about the experience of urban peoples and who would be able to advise us on applying this methodology to the study of Auckland's development

The proposal was accepted as a Fulbright scheme under the 1984 Fulbright programme However, acceptance on a proposal is some distance from it ever getting under way, let alone it being carried to a successful conclusion It is quite a task to find some person suitable, and willing, to undertake the project To ensure that the right people heard about our proposal, we wrote to a large number of historians working in the field asking if they were either interested in coming to New Zealand or could suggest the name of someone else who might be This process resulted in the appointment of Professor Griffen, who was head of the history department at Vassar College, being appointed as a research visitor '

We were fortunate to have a visitor of the calibre of Clyde Griffen His previous work had been precisely in the area we wanted - a study of Poughkeepsie, an upstate New York town, in the nineteenth century 1 This study was a contribution to the debate in American historiography about the opportunities for social and geographical mobility in urban America It charted the movement of people in and around Poughkeepsie and up and down the social ladder Moreover it pushed the debate on mobility forward through an imaginative use of credit records to study small businesses as a means of mobility and by trying to ascertain the mobility of women, an exercise few people had previously ven- tured to attempt Another stroke of luck was that Sally Griffen had worked on this study and was eager to be a partner in the Auckland project Instead of one researcher we had gained two1

During their six months in Auckland the Griffens proved indefatigable investigators, visiting all the major repositories (the Auckland Regional office of National Archives, the Public Library, the Institute and Museum Library), specialist repositories (the City Council, the Hospital Board, the various denominational archives, the Lands and Deeds office), making friends with1 archivists and librarians, and running a seminar within the history department which informed us of work currently being done in the United States and the progress on their work in Auckland

The Report2 which resulted from the project is in three sections, describing firstly the repositories and the archives they hold, then providing a more detailed description of certain types of sources and the ways these might be used, and finally outlining pro- jects for future research The entire Report will be of immense use to students em- barking on research in Auckland but two things stand out as important The first is the discovery, or rediscovery, of some exciting records and archives It is not the place here to go into these but most of us who heard the Griffens talk, at their seminar or at morning or afternoon tea, of their 'finds' were hearing about these records for the first time Secondly, because of the special expense the Griffens brought to their task, they were able to show how these records could be used in researching and writing the history of Auckland Some of the sources they evaluated would have been put aside in the past as interesting, perhaps, but not amenable to historical analysis, or even valueless for historical research One of the major contributions of the 'new social history' is to recover such sources and mine them for data on the lives of so-called 'ordinary' people

Even before the Griffens left Auckland the question arose as to what do we do now' We had what we wanted, a good documentation of sources available, an evaluation of these sources, and a store of ideas However if the enthusiasm and interested engendered during the project were not to evaporate there had to be a follow-up To carry on the work thus begun the University has established a Centre for the Study of Auckland History and Society The Centre is based in the History Department but is advised by a policy committee on which a range of departments - sociology, anthropology, political studies, economics, town planning and others - are represented Its aim is to encourage and initiate historical research on Auckland and its people In carrying out this aim, it is hoped to collect, record and publish information on historical and related projects currently in progress, to make available professional assistance to local bodies, organisations and businesses embarking on historical research, to arrange seminars and 16

conferences on Auckland history and to encourage the teaching of local history in schools We had in mind a five year project which would culminate in 1990 when the city of Auckland celebrates its sesquicentenmal We hope that this project comes to something more than the yellowing collection of files which is all that remains of the previous provincial history project

Raewyn Dalziel University of Auckland

REFERENCES

1 Clyde Griffen and Sally Griffen, Natives and newcomers The ordering of opportunity in mid-nmeteenth-century Poughkeepsie Harvard Studies in Urban History Series, 1978

2 Clyde Griffen and Sally Griffen, Sources for the social history of Auckland A report to the Department of History University of Auckland, 1985

THE USE AND ABUSE OF CATHOLIC HISTORY

Recent research into the Catholic mission to the Maori in nineteenth-century New Zealand has involved me in extensive use of the archives of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, particularly in the Auckland diocesan archives The Church has, in the past, tightly controlled the use and dissemination of information from its own archives, and only very recently - in New Zealand within the last couple of years - has this attitude begun to change, in a way that is of particular interest to archivists

I would begin by asking two questions what does Catholic history offer to interest New Zealand historians generally, and secondly, why should Catholics be interested in what historians may have to say about them7 The questions may sound eccentric, but it seems to me appropriate to ask them at this time, when the Catholic archives throughout New Zealand are, relatively suddenly, and for the first time, being opened up for re- search This paper will look at the changing, if still ambivalent, attitude of the Catholic Church to history, and to the general control of hierarchies over information I shall use some of my own findings on the Maori mission as a case study illustrating these themes, and conclude with a few parallels between what is happening in the Church, and what is happening in the historical profession, a surprising connection to make, perhaps, but one that demonstrates that making archives available to outside research is not just an exercise in posthumous philanthropy or a gamble that the truth will glorify the present, but a move that benefits the institution as much as the researchers, the studied as much as the studiers If history needs the Catholic archives, then the Catholic Church also needs historians

The first writings on Catholic history were produced, not suprisingly, by the first missionaries themselves, and notably by New Zealand's first bishop, J B F Pompallier, part of whose report on the mission in 1847 was translated and published as a mission history after his death, in 1888 It is accurate enough within its own terms, but is concerned primarily to provide a glowing justification of the bishop's leadership to his superiors in Rome Two later bishops, Redwood of Wellington and Cardinal Moran of Australia, also wrote works of history, which were notable more for their value in edifying and inspiring their readers than for objective inquiry A slightly different slant was introduced by books written by two Italian priests who worked briefly in New Zealand in the nineteenth century - Ottavio Barsanti, who did missionary work among the Northern Maori during the wars of the 1860s, and Felice Vaggioli, who was here in the 1880s Both wrote 'histories' on their departure from the country which are remarkable 17

for their pro-Maori stance, giving a very sympathetic account of the Maori side in the wars Their sympathy, however, was motivated more by fierce hostility to the Protestant missionaries than by love of the Maori Barsanti, for example, described the Pai Manre movement, begun by the prophet Te Ua in the 1860s, as more than just "a frenzied impulse of a savage people" as most pakeha saw it at the time, and as most historians have seen it until very recently Instead, he wrote, "It is a political and religious movement, a patriotic and nationalist movement", whose doctrines "contain and express in considerable measure the grounds of that odium which the Maori bear toward the pakeha" Its main principle was the rejection of the pakeha God and its replacement with "the real God of the New Zealanders", π e the Maori] and the reassertion of a Maori spiritual and political identity With most of this, most modern historians would now agree, but Barsanti went on to argue that the rise of the movement was a direct and natural result of the spread of British Protestantism, which, by encouraging the principles of liberty of conscience and liberty of interpreting the Bible, as well as allowing the ordination of native ministers, encouraged the Maori to consider themselves the equal of the pakeha, and therefore able to do without the missionaries In other words, Barsanti, like Vaggioli, used the Pai Manre movement as a weapon to attack the evils of Protestantism, and at the same time was able to give free rein to a fairly violent Anglophobia If his angle of attack is thus different from the high-minded panegyric of the bishops, historical truth is no less a casualty in the sectarian cross-fire

The two volume work written by J J Wilson in 1910 (until recently the only atter.pt at a comprehensive history of the nineteenth-century Church in New Zealand) was similarly undermined as a piece of history by the need to glorify its heroes and villify all those - Protestants that is - who stood in the way of the onward march of Catholicism By the middle of this century, the sectarian fires had died down, and polemic in history writing gave way to a more tranquil, if no more illuminating, piety, particularly in the work of Mary Goulter and Lillian Keys Keys' work, while comparatively recent (her biographies of Pompallier and Viard, Bishop of Wellington, date from 1957 and 1968 respectively), is squarely in the hagiographie tradition, painting her subject bishops in impossibly heroic and pious mode, and working closely with the contemporary Catholic hierarchy to ensure that no hint of scandal desecrated their memory The biography of Viard is especially notable for the tenacity and, skill with which she turns a particularly dull and in- adequate bishop into a paragon of piety

Catholic history then, for most of its life, has suffered a double constraint its subject matter limited to the institution and leaders of the Church, its style confined to either dull edification or intemperate polemic Only within the last eight years has a change occurred, with the appointment of Fr Ernest Simmons, an Auckland priest and journalist, as archivist to the Auckland diocese Within that space of time the archives have been fully organised, catalogued and made accessible to outside research for the first time All church records up to the 1930s can now be consulted with a hitherto unheard-of freedom Fr Simmons has also, in this time, researched, written and published a triptych of books on Pompallier and the Church in New Zealand, which depart - for ever one hopes - from the hagiographie tradition The progress is measurable and contin- uing Bishop Mackey, himself a notable historian, in his foreword to Simmons' first (1978) history, raised the question of "the propriety of even making judgements or expressing opinions, especially about those who are living or even recently dead", but the 1984 biography of Pompallier contains no such doubts, setting out to be simply "an honest appraisal based on the facts" Auckland seems to have been the catalyst for change in other dioceses an archivist has recently been appointed to open up the Wellington archives after years of obstruction, the archives of the Manst Fathers in Wellington are well-organised and invaluable for mission history, only Dunedin at present resists, evidently slower to thaw than its warmer northerly neighbours

Fr Simmons's stated purpose of encouraging the study of Catholic history as a legitimate field of New Zealand history is already being fulfilled Critical academic study of the early Church really only began in the 1960s, with pioneering work by people like Hugh Laracy and Jane Thomson Religious history now occupies a recognised place in the country's universities, and the freeing of access has led, in the last two or three years, to a profusion of research by both postgraduate students and religious The trend in New Zealand, moreover, is merely part of a world-wide opemng-up of Catholic records Thanks to the work of Fr Theo Cook (Kok), most diocesan archives in the Pacific, and the archives of the Oceania Manst Province, have, only recently, been classified and protected, and much of them made available on microfilm Vatican records 18

in Rome relating to New Zealand are also microfilmed, as are the archives of the Marist Order in Rome The Vatican itself recently reduced the time-lag before which freedom of research is permitted in its archives from 75 to 50 years Certain favoured historians have even been allowed to peek at still more recent documents, including, for example, some of the correspondence of Pius XII during World War Two The official archival policy is now little different from that of most other large institutions and governments

These changes occurring in the wake of the Second Vatican Council represent a revolution in the Church's attitude to the control of information, and to the practise and use of history Before the 1960s, the Catholic hierarchy was fearful, protective, distrustful towards open reporting of facts, whether historical or contemporary Arch- bishop Liston, in the 1960s, banned one of the Church's own newspapers, the Tablet, from sale in Auckland, and sacked two editors of the other, the zeaiandia, for failing to heed his directives There was a general feeling that the Church, because of its sacred, 'other-worldly' concerns, was in some way 'untouchable', not a fit subject for mere human inquiry, and that it was not accountable for its actions like other, human, institutions Archbishop McKeefry wrote in the foreword of Keys' biography of Bishop Viard that, "study in depth of the man's mind and the motivations that governed decisions and activities may be a desirable form of biography when dealing with the lives of men whose work lies in the field of public activity, not so with a missionary whose sole purpose in life is to serve God and man" McKeefry, in solidarity with a brother bishop, doubtless feared for other posthumous reputations, including his own, but his attitude showed that very little had changed since the arrival of Bishop Pompallier in 1838

Pompallier made censorship into a plank of mission policy Since discouraging news from the mission in New Zealand would result in a lowering of interest and of financial support in Europe, Pompallier considered it necessary to "write in a manner as to excite many more vocations, and to stimulate the piety, knowledge and zeal of the faithful for this mission to conduct affairs in a spirit of order, dependence, unity and prudence" Unity was one of the bishop's favourite words It required that all letters from the missionaries to Europe that were not*of a specifically personal and spiritual nature had to be censored by an authorised missionary - which was usually Pompallier Missionaries, he told his men, should "report about the mission all the good they knew about it, and keep absolutely silent about things which show it to dis- advantage" This could be taken as an accurate summing-up of the Church's attitude to history until the last twenty years Pompallier himself was a master of the art of dis- creet flattery, of tailoring his letters to the particular disposition of the reader He never stooped to outright dishonesty, but very many things could be justified in the greater cause of the salvation of souls

Such formalised, institutionalised control over information was often resented and resisted by his priests who complained at the inhumanity of his policy and I think, with the benefit of hindsight, that they were right Control over knowledge is not only obstructive for the historian seeking to create a facsimile of historical reality, but self-defeating for the institution concerned, i e the Church seeking to save souls Such control distorts reality, and misleads the perceptions not only of those for whom the information is marketed, but ultimately for those who market it as well The institution, operating under a false image, operates less efficiently and tends to lose touch with its original support The censors' control will eventually undermine their own power, by the simple accumulation of layers of distortion

A fine example of the kind of distortion I mean comes from 1840, when Pompallier had only been in New Zealand two years On an evangelising mission to Otago, he met the local Ngaitahu chief Taiaroa, who treated him with great deference and invited him to his house There Pompallier was amazed to see Taiaroa open a trunk and display a trea- sure trove of large paintings, showing such familiar scenes as the battles of Napoleon Bonaparte, the French war in Algeria, and portraits of King Louis-Philippe and Napoleon himself As the bishop soon guessed, these pictures had been obtained from the captains of French whaling vessels which called in at Otago, in exchange for food and items of trade Taiaroa had the biggest, but not the only collection, another chief had a room decorated entirely in European fashion, its walls lined from floor to ceiling with similar pictures, among which Pompallier was delighted to see religious images He reported 19

I found a large quantity of large French pictures, representing glorious things from our country, and even saints It was with a joyful surprise that I saw at the houses of nearly all the chiefs image of the Most Blessed Virgin hold- ing the infant Jesus in her arms ι The chiefs were falling over themselves to display their collections, which, added Pompallier, "interest their minds and are like talking books for those who cannot read any others, being unable either to read or write"

Now,since the only report of this incident is a letter of Pompallier to his super- iors in Europe, we have only a very one-sided view of what was happening Pompallier's reaction was quite straight-forward he was delighted to find that the Virgin Mary had arrived in Otago ahead of him, and interpreted it as a sign that Providence favoured his mission The hospitality of the chiefs and their display of pakeha treasure he saw simply as evidence of their willingness to embrace the Catholic faith We can suspect - though not prove - that Taiaroa and the Ngaitahu had a very different idea of what they thought the pictures were for and what they meant The great dynamic in Maori society at this time was the competition between groups and between individuals for mana hospitality to guests and the display of arcane treasure were both ways of asserting the superiority of one's mana over others In this sense Taiaroa would have been less concerned to impress the foreign bishop with his readiness for conversion, than to impress his rival chiefs with his ability to entertain the bishop The many urgent re- quests that went out all over the country in the early 1840s for missionaries to be attached to Maori communities were similarly signs, not necessarily of religious en- thusiasm, but of chiefs and tribes desiring a 'pet missionary' to strengthen the prestige of the tribe in competition with others There is thus a gap, a disjunction of percep- tion between missionary and Maori, between what the Maori wanted of the missionary, and what the missionary thought the Maori wanted and needed, but it is a gap that has for a long time gone unnoticed, simply because of the exclusively European nature of the sources Moreover, the sources are not just European, but also ecclesiastical the missionaries were always concerned to interpret and report their interaction with the Maori in purely 'religious' terms, and consequently to ignore or dilute political, cultural or economic impact Pompallier, for example, made no comment to Taiaroa about Napoleon or Louis- Philippe, but he did take exception tc several paintings deemed to show "immorality and all that is harmful to modesty" - one thinks of Ingres' Turkish Bath and other con- temporary works - and he ordered them to be taken down The Maori obeyed immediately, admitting that the pictures were bad and showed "an animal-like existence", which in turn moved the bishop to comment admiringly on how easily such people could be led to recognise true morality1

The Catholics' attitude toward the Maori was straightforward and strictly paterna- listic Unlike their Protestant rivals who spent a good deal of energy in debating whether civilisation should precede or follow Christianity, the Catholics made no dis- tinction between the two Their opinions of Maori character were directly proportionate to Maori readiness to receive the Gospel "A New Zeaiander," said Pompallier, "without the light of the Gospel is, by his hideous tattooing, his rolling eyes and ferocious air, the very image of a demon But once instructed and especially baptised in the faith he is no longer recognisable, despite his tattooing which doesn't wear off His gaze is direct, his manner affable, his words measured, his behaviour correct, and all his ways inspire confidence " Generally the Maori were seen as a simple, energetic, appealing race, who, like children, learned quickly and easily, but needed constant chastising One missionary called them "the highest grade of ape", but he then went on to say that their very simplicity made them better Catholics, once converted, than the most civilised Europeans

And "civilised Europeans" is what the missionaries tried to make the Maori into Despite the claims of the Catholics that they were "unworldly", sent for the sole purpose of saving souls, and totally uninterested in the affairs of this world, nonetheless they bore the imprint of a specific historical background Pompallier came from a fairly wealthy family in the industrial city of Lyon, all of his first priests were French, and most came from small rural villages in the mountainous regions of southeast France, and they naturally brought with them the ideals and perceptions of their time In particular they inherited the Cartesian mind-set, that divided life up into separate areas, and especially cut the spiritual off from the temporal Politics, economics, all that be- longed to this world and not the next, they considered none of their business They viewed the world, one might say, through stained-glass lenses 20

It has often been thought that the Catholic missionaries, partly because of their long tradition of missionary work in Asia and the Americas, observed greater tolerance towards the local customs, beliefs and social structures of the Maori than their Protestant rivals, who were deliberately and bombastically bent on the destruction of all things native to make way for the superior technology and religion of the European This is often supported by reference to the claim of the Catholics that, as the universal Church, they rose above all barriers of race and culture, and preached their message un- tramelled by national allegiance, and were therefore sheltered, to some extent at least, from the Eurocentric arrogance of, for example, the British Anglican and Wesleyan ministers In fact this is largely a chimera For the Catholic missionaries were very conscious of their French origins, and co-operated in the enterprise of French expansion and imperialism, although admittedly never to the rapacious extent of the British France was often seen in semi-mystical terms as the 'Elder Daughter of the Church', historically privileged and uniquely qualified to spread the faith to the heathen as part of her divinely-ordained destiny It was this attitude, for example, which led Pompallier to remain aloof at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and even to urge the French navy to annex the South Island, six months after the treaty had been signed

As for tolerance of the indigenous people and their culture, the Catholics merely succeeded in replacing an overtly European cultural superiority with a Catholic one, which was at times barely distinguishable Tolerance was certainly a part of Catholic policy, but it was an instrument designed to encourage conversion, not an end in itself Conversion and worship were never conceived of in other than European ways Thus the mission won many converts in the early period for its apparently relaxed attitude to such things as tattooing, haka, dances and carving, and was reluctant to force changes in lifestyle One Hokianga Maori told a Methodist missionary "Their religion Ci e the Catholics'] is good because they are not afraid of sin You require your people to keep holy the Sabbath day, but we can play or work or shoot pigeons after service is over " But such tolerance was only temporary and always provisional native usages were allowed "only in so far as they were compatible with Faith and Morals" There is a rather marvellous carving, now in the Auckland Museum, done in the 1840s, of a Madonna and Child, on which a full facial moko is given, not only to the infant Jesus, but, most exceptionally in Maori art, to the mother as well It is thus an attempt to represent the Immaculate Conception and the place of Mary in Catholic theology, but in Maori terms Significantly for both Maori and Catholic history, the local priest rejected the carving, deeming it to be unsuitable to put in the church Decisions such as this gradually exposed the reality of a monolithic and unwieldy institution, whose tolerance and flex- bility were more apparent than real As a recent Catholic Maori commentator has said, 'the reality that remains in the Maori consciousness, is of a Church, the canoe of faith, which is saturated in 'Jestern cultural forms and practices' The Church leaders have forgotten, if they ever knew, that one of the strongest attractions the early mission has for the Maori was the apparent recognition and acceptance it offered of Maori usages and social structure, where other churches did not

Catholic policy in the mid-nineteenth century mirrored the general European attitude to the Maori of amalgamation, or as we know it today, integration the notion that progress for the Maori required mastering European skills and adopting Pakeha life- styles as quickly and uncomplainingly as possible, leaving behind the relics of a primitive civilisation which could only hold the Maori back m a European world During the wars of the 1860s, Pompallier, though not without sympathy for the Maori cause, saw their defeat as inevitable He saw the war as the struggle of the earthenware pot against the iron pot, and he regretted that the Maori pushed their resistance "to the point of folly and fanaticism, of uncontrolled license and war against the whites, in order to preserve their independence and their race, both of which would be better preserved by a humble and dutiful submission, of the weaker to the stronger, of the ignorant to the knowledge of the social and industrial civilisation of the whites"

dere we come up against one of the greatest of these 'gaps of perception' I have been talking about For as Pompallier wrote those words on the weak submitting duti- fully to the strong, the Maori were in fact leaving the Catholic Church in droves If his words seems harsh today, at the time they reflected perfectly the extent to which the Church had alienated itself from the main body of its Maori supporters, precisely by its refusal to take account of their so-called 'politics'

Right from the beginning of the mission in New Zealand it had got caught up in Maori and European politics Because the Catholics arrived relatively late, some twenty 21

-three years after the first Anglican missionaries, they were received by the Maori as an alternative to the established churches, the Anglican and Methodist, whose growing dominance in New Zealand in the late 1830s was seen as a threat to Maori society by some of its members On Pompallier's arrival in 1838, the Hokianga Maori lined up to join his church before he was able to preach to them in their own language, and certainly before they had much of an idea of what the Catholic message really was One chief told his priest that "before our arrival in New Zealand he had desired that protestantism was not the true religion, and that when we appeared for the first time, learning that we brought the true religion, he was so filled with joy at the news that he believed him- self carried up into heaven" Moreover, the violence of the mutual hostility between Protestants and Catholics at this time created something approaching sectarian warfare in some areas, and provided a perfect cover for Maori individuals, hapu and tribes, to continue to pursue ancient rivalries and animosities while conforming to the new enthusiasm for the Pakeha religion Often the tribes who turned to Catholicism were those from the most isolated areas, or those who had resisted theproselytising of the Protestant missionaries for one reason or another, and leapt at the chance to get one back at their rivals, by acquiring the newest and most exotic form of the Pakeha religion Bishop Selwyn's secretary described how the rise of Maori catechists, or teachers, was seen to threaten the traditional power of the chiefs Hence, "the old heathen chiefs often join the Picopos (the Catholics) without knowing much about the matter in order to maintain, so to say, the balance of power under the new state of things"

Such rivalry exaggerated the differences between the churches, to the point where the Catholics were not regarded as being Christian the Maori word for Catholics - 'epikopo' - came to be used as an oppositional term for those hostile to the 'mihanere' - the 'missionaries' or Christian party Hence we get the rather surprising paradox of Maori calling themselves Catholic in order not to become Christian, and in rejection of the gospel, as preached by the Protestant missionaries

Moreover, thanks to a variety of other factors, notably that the Catholics were French, they did not owe allegiance to the Queen, and they did not own great areas of land like many Anglican ministers, Catholicism became associated with opposition, not just to the Protestant churches, but to the colonial government This was partly again a result of Protestant attacks One Methodist minister was reported to have "represented to the natives that the bishop and his priest could be no good as they were Frenchmen, that all from their country were murderers, and if they were allowed to stop in New Zealand, in course of time Dr Pompallier would burn them, [and] tie the natives to a stake if they did not adhere to the Catholic religion" Pompallier, moreover, made great play of the independence of the Catholics from Protestant society and from the colonial government French warships sailed ostentatiously into the Bay of Islands and welcomed the bishop with naval salutes Selected Catholic chiefs would be invited on board to inspect the French ships The medals, crucifixes and pictures of the Virgin Mary, which the Maori hung around their necks, were valued not only as novelties and ornaments, but also as visible symbols of their identity as 'pikopos', those who opposed the 'mihanere'

Joining the Catholics frequently expressed a kind of protest against the British authorities At Waitangi, those chiefs who refused to sign the treaty were said to be Catholics, and many of them were, but not, as Hobson and others claimed, because Pompallier had put them up to it Pompallier was a sort of unwitting figurehead of hostility to the government Rather than opposing the treaty because they were Catholic, his followers were generally Catholic because they opposed the treaty Hon Tupaea, paramount chief of Tauranga, was similarly and deliberately using the language of European politics when he paid a visit to the Acting-Governor Willoughby Shortland in 1843, wearing the full dress uniform of a French naval officer It symbolised for him, not allegiance to France, but opposition to the British, and the assertion of his own independent mana

Pompallier in turn encouraged such alliances in the interests of spreading Catholic influence His attitude was well expressed by one of his priests, who reported that a chief had asked the mission to provide some 'kai tiaki wiwi', some French soldiers to protect his tribe The priest wrote "I didn't think I ought to disabuse him entirely, given that God can make use of such dispositions to bring him to religion" 22

During the wars of the 1860s the Catholic missionaries were widely suspected of encouraging the Maoris to oppose the government Once again, the mission performed the function of providing a focus for hostility to the colonial government among the Maori, merely by virtue of its lack of ties with the government The celibate French mission- aries, working alone in Maori communities, contrasted strongly with the English ministers, now wel1-established with large estates and thriving families The English missionaries had not only helped to impose the Treaty of Waitangi on the Maori, but their bishop, Selwyn, fatally distinguished himself in Maori eyes by accompanying the British troops at the battle - some say massacre - of Rangiaowhia During the early 1860s, there was a widespread movement among the Maori towards the Catholics the Maori King himself expressed interest in being converted

But the Church failed to respond to the Maori need for inspiration and support Pompallier was concerned at all costs not to lend credibility to the Protestant and settlers'suspicions of subversion He took up position firmly within the government camp, and preached to the Maori to make peace and submit to the Europeans, in their own interest When the government lost patience and ordered the missionaries out of so- called rebellious areas, Pompallier meekly obeyed When eventually the priests returned, they found their flocks dispirited and much diminished in number, to the point where the Catholic missions, from the late 1860s until the mid-1880s, were virtually abandoned In the words of the Archbishop of Wellington "From the year 1868, the Maoris were un- willing to listen to their pastors, and the latter, called away to minister to the rapidly increasing Europeans, left the Maori to their insubordination, and attended to the souls of the Europeans"

This is not, of course, the full story of the Catholic missions Many other things were going on besides what I have described, but the point I would like to make is that this whole history of linking Maori Catholicism with protest, its role as an alternative focus of support to the British, Protestant hierarchy, was fundamentally ignored and misunderstood by the Church leadership With a sincerity equalled only by narrowness of vision, Pompallier behaved like a good European prelate, counting up totals of Maori converts, but never probing too deeply into the reasons for their conversion When, during the wars, he preached once too often the unworldliness of the Catholic Church and its indifference to political issues, he unwittingly and disastrously removed one of the Church's main claims to favour among the Maori people By his ignorance of the nature of his support among the Maori, he lost it

Pompallier, in effect, uncovered the harsh logic of his own paternalism The con- troller of information, who believed, with the destructive arrogance of unfocussed be- nevolence, that he knew what the Maori needed, became the victim of his own censorship, prevented from comprehending what the Maori really needed and wanted by the controls he himself placed on his perception The Catholic attitude to information control thus exacerbated the usual misunderstanding between races As we saw with Taiaroa, the missionaries' relations with the Maori were stretched across gaps of perception that were religious and hierarchical as well as cultural The resulting accumulation of dis- tortion, of how the Catholic message was going across and received by the Maori, ultimately put the whole institution into jeopardy By 1870, it was hard to find a Catholic Maori in the Auckland diocese

In 1978 one priest and scholar wrote "The central problem facing the Church and the Maori is a problem of reconciliation, the reconciliation of Maoritanga, Maori culture and Christianity" The events and policy of Pompallier's reign as bishop laid the basis for the place of the Maori in the Catholic Church today, and led directly to the anger and anxiety being expressed by many Catholic Maori at what they see as the continuing religious imperialism being practised upon them In July of this year, Rob Cooper, an Auckland Maori, repeated the message with greater force "Unless the Church in New Zealand makes an urgent and rapid alteration to some of its fundamental attitudes and practices, then it will become, if it retains its present position, totally irrelevant to the Maori" Understanding of the historical roots of the relationship between the Maori people and their Church is not just for the amusement of academics or historically -minded clerics, but essential for any such change to take place within the Church it- self, change in which the opening of the archives to a wide variety of research will be both symptom and cause

I would like to conclude by very briefly, and perhaps rather fancifully, drawing a couple of parallels between what is happening in the Catholic Church, and what is 23

happening in the historical profession, perhaps to show that it is not entirely coin- cidental that the Church's attitude to history should be changing at precisely this moment

Firstly, I suspect there is a kind of parallel between the two groups in their theology Since the Second Vatican Council, there has been a shift in Catholic thinking away from the paternalistic God-with-a-beard-up-in-heaven, with which Pompallier would have been familiar, to a search for Christ down below, living among his people, rather than mysteriously controlling them from above Similarly, the trend in history over the last few decades has been to attack the idea of the goddess Clio sitting high up among the elites of society From histories that were concerned only, or primarily, with the lives of great men, rulers of nations, the rich and the powerful, there has been a shift to 'history from below', a broad social history examining ordinary people in the daily business of living This change is reflected in the kind of things now being written from the Catholic archives where previously access was carefully controlled, and given only to those who could be relied on to write eulogistic biographies of the bishops and leaders of the Church, today just about anyone can enter, and the work being produced reflects a more populist interest research going on at the present concerns, for example, the Irish community in Auckland last century - mostly working-class people - and the influence of Catholicism on women's fertility Religous history is no longer just about bishops, or indeed religion, but looks at churches operating in a wider social context

Secondly, attitudes to other cultures have changed in similar ways in the history world, and in the Church Missiology, or the science of evangelising, used to be con- cerned primarily with working out how people could be brought to believe in God - it consisted in discovering those techniques and methods by which the greatest number of souls could be saved The academic equivalent has been what historians used to call 'acculturation', which could roughly be translated as the science of assimilation, that is, establishing by what stages indigenous peoples could be brought to become white As historians have moved on to a recognition of the identity and integrity of these peoples and their worthiness as an independent object of study quite apart from their relation- ship with Europeans, so too has the official Church thinking changed since Vatican II, from imposing a pre-ordained and alien pattern of worship on indigenous peoples, to finding out what the needs are of those who require the Church's attention, and attempt- ing to provide resources to cater for them in a manner most appropriate to their culture and identity

All hierarchies and elites, ecclesiastical as well as historical, claim to know better than those below them, or outside them Maybe they do, maybe they should - that is the point of elites, and the meaning of 'expert status' But such claims must be based on precise knowledge, and a willingness to listen to one's sources and one's subjects - in a word, research, whether into history or into the present Here, history and the Church come together, and this is the function of archives, which I am happy to see the Church is at last coming to recognise Both the historical profession and the Church have a common duty, to look, not up, to heaven and the glory of future readership, but down, to listen to the objects of their concern Failure to do so in both cases leads to narrowness, anachronism, and irrelevance

Philιρ Turner University of Auckland 24

TRADE UNION RECORDS

There is a famous poem by the German writer Bertolt Brecht, entitled "Questions from a Worker who Reads"

"Who built Thebes of the seven gates' In the books you will find the names of kings Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock' And Babylon, many times demolished Who raised it up so many times' In what houses Of gold-glittering Lima did the builders live' Where, the evening that the Wall of China was finished Did the masons go' Great Rome Is full of triumphal arches' Who erected them'

And Brecht concludes his poem

Philip of Spain wept when his armada went down Was he,the only one to weep' Frederick the Second won the Seven Years' War Who else won it' Every page a victory Who cooked the feast for the victors' Every ten years a great man Who paid the bill'' So many reports So many questions "

Let me repeat "Who cooked the feast for the victors'" History, we learn from this poem, has always been written from the point of view of the victors In New Zealand terms we might call them squatters and capitalists, or the patriarchy, or pakeha colonialists There are, as you see from these descriptions, all sorts of victors in our society and corresponding victims workers, women, and ethnic minorities, and you can no doubt think of other smaller groups, discriminated against because of their religious or sexual orientation The victims look at the world from different pers- pectives, though always from below, and it can even become rather overwhelming when you happen to be a female Maori trade unionist But regardless of their angle of vision, their contribution has been suppressed or forgotten and it is, as Brecht points out, the history of the victors which has been perpetuated Only in comparatively recent years have we seen serious attempts to write history from the perspective of the victims

I can give you a good example of this process In 1940, for the centenary of New Zealand, our government sponsored a Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, which was compiled by Dr Guy Scholefield with a few assistants Women, as you know, make up about half the population, but in this 2-volume dictionary the proportion of women listed was under 3 percent Now, this was not, as far as I am aware, because Dr Scholefield was a rabid woman-hater I knew him as a kindly old-fashioned gentleman, Chief Librarian at the General Assembly Library, who probably would have been deeply shocked if someone had accused him of deliberately discriminating against women Basically he was no better than his sources, which had throughout that century ignored ' or neglected the contribution of women

Today another biographical dictionary project is under way, again sponsored by the government and tied appropriately to the country's 150th anniversary in 1990 I am one of the working party convenors for this project and I know that we are making special efforts to include women and Maoris and Labour people, but I have become aware also of the tremendous difficulties in achieving a fair representation In the case of women, for instance, we might achieve a 25 percent proportion in the first volume, which goes up to 1869 This is still inadequate but it is substantially better than in any other national biographical dictionary

The basic reason for our difficulties is not just that earlier historians and biographers tended to ignore women, together with other victims of the system, but 25

that the documentary sources ,to reconstitute their lives have been destroyed or have, for various reasons, failed to reach the traditional library and archival repositories, and are therefore difficult to trace I will admit here and now, to save arguments, later, that among those primarily responsible for the loss of such archives are the victims themselves, who have failed to maintain them, to deposit them in institutions, or to erect buildings and employ staff to look after them One major reason for this neglect, of course, is that these victims have in the past attached very little importance to their own history and have come to believe that only the proceedings of their masters were worth preserving and writing about If they had thought otherwise, they would not have remained victims for so long, for they do after all constitute the overwhelming majority of our population

In this talk I want to concentrate on just one aspect of this problem the archives of trade unions

Trade unions came to New Zealand with the early pakeha immigrants The first union of which we have any mention was a Benevolent Society of Carpenters and Joiners, which advertised m Wellington newspapers in 1842 The only information we have, comes in fact from these newspaper ads, they cease early in 1843 and the society presumably collapsed or - this is a possiblity - its few members emigrated to Australia or even to Chile There was a similar Building Operatives' Benevolent Society in Auckland in 1851, and I have also come across newspaper references to a House Carpenters Society in Auckland in 1857 The oldest still surviving union, however, is the Engineers Union, and this is also the union with the oldest surviving records The first branch of the Engineers Union (it was then called the Amalgamated Society of Engineers) was set up here in Auckland in 1863, with five members, the oldest surviving union minute books are those of the Dunedin branch, starting in December 1874

By the time the Arbitration Act came into force in 1895, more than 200 unions had been formed and, on occasions, re-formed in New Zealand, though most of them had died by then Their average life-span was short, perhaps 2 to 3 years, and most of them are known to us only from newspaper reports, or from occasional mention in parliamentary papers, because their records' have nearly all disappeared Auckland had 38 unions in 1890, but only one minute booke has survived from that year, of the Operative Bakers Union In Dunedin we have records of only two pre-1895 unions, the engineers and the carpenters, and in Wellington there are three the engineers, printers and seamen There is also a minute book for 1890-91 of the Huntly Amalgamated Miners and Labourers Union, which was rescued when a railway shed was demolished which the union had used as a meeting place, and whose present owner kindly gave permission for its being copied for the Auckland University Library

Christchurch is more fortunate in its early union records, mainly because by the time the local unions moved out of the old Trades Hall into a new Trade Union Centre some ten years ago, there was a group of historians, librarians and local enthusiasts who formed a committee which arranged the bulk transfer of all out-of-date records to the University Library As a result there is more old trade union material there than in any other repository in the country, with some going back to as early as 1880

I should add that even the invaluable engineers' records might easily have been lost In 1923, when the British head office of the union severed its links with New Zealand, it instructed the local branches to return all records and funds to London They seem to have done so, because their surviving minute books normally start in 1924 except, for some unexplained reason, the Dunedin branch, which kept its old minute books and only sent the money to London I had imagined that somewhere in London there would be a huge stack of old New Zealand branch records, but when I visited the engineers' head office in Peckham in 1980, I learned that these records had disappeared long ago

Of course, trade union records do not consist merely of minute books, ledgers and files of correspondence Only a few weeks ago I was able to view a collection of films of union activities taken in the 1940s and 50s by an Auckland union secretary, who died 20 years ago They were found under his house m Kmgsland by the present owners and given to the Auckland Museum, and they provide a unique historical record of street marches and mass meetings, a conference of the shortlived Trade Union Congress, and incidents during the 1950 Auckland rail strike and the 1951 waterfront dispute 26

Written records usually end up in libraries, but museums are more interested in collecting objects which illustrate the history of unions, which might be badges, or specially printed matchboxes, or a wooden baton used by "Massey's Cossacks" in the 1913 waterfront strike, or a banner Some of you will have seen on television the magnificent, intricately decorated banners of British unions, which are brought out at demonstrations or miners' festivities New Zealand too had elaborate union banners,- often ordered from British firms which specialised in their manufacture, but most of them survive only in photographs

Among the few known to exist still is a large carpenters' banner hanging on the staircase of the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, and a banner, which I have not seen, in the Wellington Museum of the Westport District Gold Miners Union, which they bought in England in 1899 for £40 Here in Auckland, the Drivers Union found stored away a large banner which their members had carried in demonstrations during the 1913 strike Its exact age is uncertain, but it has a picture of a horse on one side, which indicates that it predates the motor car

Of two large house flags used by the steamers of the Jubilee Steamship Co , which the Seamen's Union sponsored in 1887, one survived in the Dunedin office of the union, where I saw it some 20 years ago, and it has since been reproduced in various publica- tions The other flag, I was told, was taken home by the union secretary and used as a bedspread until it disintegrated Which recalls the fate of a large pennant - 52 feet long and 4 feet high - which was carried in battle by the Maori leader Te Kooti during the Land Wars It was captured in 1870 in an encounter at Tumunui, near Rotorua, photo- graphed and presented to the Dominion Museum, where it was later cut up into strips, to be used as floor-cloths and dusters by the cleaners I think these two incidents illus- trate perfectly the traditional attitude towards the history of the oppressed by both the victors and the victims it was of no great importance or interest, and therefore not worth preserving

Possibly for the same reasons, the parliamentary library, which was responsible for the copyright collection of all New Zealand printed works, failed for many years to collect trade union publications When I wrote the history of the Engineers Union a few years ago, I found that the union had published a number of journals over the years a Monthly Record from 1916 to 1922, the Ν ζ Engineers journal quarterly from 1926 to 1930, and The Micrometer from 1937 to 1940 Not a single copy of these journals exists in any New Zealand library, yet all of them should have reached at least the General Assembly Library All that survives are a few single copies I was able to collect, and the same applies to other union journals of that period The staff of the parliamentary library were public servants, but they managed to miss the Ν Ζ civil service journal, which was published between 1907 and 1911 Only two copies of this journal have survi- ved one was found in the files of the State Services Commission and is now in the Turnbull Library, the other is here in the Auckland Museum Library The parliamentary library must have received this journal but presumably did not consider it worth preser- ving

I can give you yet another more recent example of neglect in the Wellington Trades Hall in Vivian Street large framed photos of pre-first world war union conferences used to hang in the corridors on each floor Most of them have disappeared and, when I enquired, I was told that sombody had probably sold the valuable frames to a secondhand shop The Wellington Trades Hall also owned a life-size bronze bust of Samuel Duncan Parnell, the founder of the eight-hour day in Wellington It used to preside over their meeting room but it is no longer there, presumably stolen It could of course be that the thief had actually saved its life, for the bust might well have been destroyed, together with the old photos, in the bomb blast which wrecked the Trades Hall last year

Apart from bombs, which are still exceptional in New Zealand, the danger points for union records are usually a shift of office or a change of secretary Some secretaries are conscientious and ask their executives for permission to destroy records no longer needed, but most seem to do this on their own initiative, in either case there is no regard for their historical value Small unions which have no permanent office are even more vulnerable, because the secretary then works from home, usually part-time, and when new officers are elected the old records are not always passed on All sorts of intere- sting documents have been found by widows or descendants in cupboards and attics, and 27

their usual destination is the fireplace or the tip Only rarely do people realise the potential value of such material anddonateit to institutions, as happened with the rolls of film I mentioned earlier

I was often shocked by the indifference with which union secretaries gave away valuable union records to virtually every Tom, Dick and Harry This carefree attitude may no longer prevail - at least, I hope so - but I had some disconcerting experiences Some years ago, I sought to collect the annual conference reports of the Federation of Labour, from 1937 on They, incidentally, were not in any library and even today I doubt whether any library has a complete file I had managed to get all the reports except for one year, 1953, and I wrote to a friend in Wellington asking her to go to the Federation and see whether they had a spare copy She went to the secretary, who told her they had no spares but that there was a copy on their own file of reports He then took that copy off the file and gave it to her Of course, I was very pleased to receive it, but the secretary obviously was not concerned that the Federation should retain at least one copy of its own publications Today, fortunately the Federation has its own library under the charge of a qualified librarian, and takes proper care of its records

I had a similar experience about that time, which is some twenty years ago One day a young woman came to my office in the Auckland University Library and told me she worked at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and she had found two boxes of New Zealand trade union records and was I interested in them Of course, I was and I arranged to have them sent Over from Sydney What had happened, I found out, was that a lecturer at Otago University had obtained a grant for research on trade unions in the interwar period He had travelled around the South Island collecting union records and had started on his research, but then he got a new job in Sydney, took the records with him, but put aside his New Zealand research Soon afterwards he died, still in his forties, there was no family, and the departmental secretary who was left with the task of clearing out his office, found these records She didn't know what to do with them but, at a book launching of a trade union history in Sydney she asked around and somebody (I didn't find out who) gave her my name Thus these records came home again to New Zealand, and they included such treasures as the minute books and cash ledgers of the Inangahua Miners Union, on the West Coast, for almost forty years, from 1907 to 1945 You will be pleased to know they are now in the Turnbull Library, but it was sheer accident that these records survived and came back to this country And it was totally irresponsible of that union secretary to hand over these records to a visitor and thus lose all track of them

I can also think of instances when secretaries were prepared to give me documents which I though they should retain, because they were part of their union's history, but when I cam back some years later to look for them they had disappeared And then of course there were occasions when valuable material was deliberately destroyed

I have spent quite a bit of my time over the past 30 or so years talking to union people of the need to preserve trade union records, and persuading them to deposit such material in libraries Until recently I was firmly convinced that unwanted union records should be put into institutions as quickly as possible to ensure their preser- vation, but I have now changed my mind to some extent A few years ago I was asked to write the history of the Engineers Union To make this possible, the union, which had never given any of its records to libraries, asked all its branches to send their old minute books and other historical material to Auckland, where the local branch made an office and a desk available to me In other words, the source material came to me, instead of me having to travel all over the country to seek it out Just now I am working on the history of the Public Service Association They have arranged to deposit all their records in the Alexander Turnbull Library, but they stipulated that I must be able to borrow any file I require and have it sent up to me in Auckland, and this again has worked satisfactorily

On the other hand, the national Printers Union some time ago asked whether I would be interested in writing their history but, when I looked into this, I found that the records of the Otago branch had been put into the Hocken Library, the Canterbury branch records were at the Canberbury University Library, and the national and Wellington branch records were at Victoria University Library Auckland alone of the major 28

branches had still kept its own records This dispersion of material makes it virtually impossible to write a national history of this union, unless they can afford the expense of the writer spending several months in each place doing research, or unless the various holding institutions can be persuaded to send material on extended loan to the writer's home town, which would not be easy to arrange My considered advice today is therefore if your union is likely to sponsor a history, don't deposit any of your records in a library until after that is out of the way

I have also over the years collected some union records myself I can't cope with large heaps of minute books or letter books, of course, because I haven't got the space, but I have sought out smaller; items, such as leaflets, photos, rule books and the like When I started collecting union material some 30 years ago, libraries were generally not interested or, at least, made no special efforts in this area Since then however, there have been some significant changes The Hocken Library sent out a printed leaflet to unions on the need to preserve their archives, and it has undertaken the systematic collection of Otago union records The Victoria University Library set up a Labour Archives Trust with the support of the Federation of Labour and acquired some important material The Turnbull Library sent a staff member to the West Coast some years ago to collect union records there, and Canterbury University Library, as I mentioned earlier, acquired virtually the contents of the old Trades Hall University students have also assisted by locating union material for their theses in unexpected placed, which has often found its way afterwards into university libraries

As the result of these various efforts, I estimate that by now the bulk of survi- ving union records has been transferred to institutions I may be proved wrong of course, but I suspect that there are no more major treasures to be discovered in the six university centres and on the West Coast, if somebody is looking for old or reasonably old union records, I would direct them to secondary towns such as Gisborne, Wanganui or Timaru, which have a union history going back to the last century but where very few records have so far been recovered

Apart from mopping up those few still unexplored places, the main task now, as I see it, is first, to digest the material deposited in libraries by the production of detailed inventories This is already being done by the institutions concerned, but the standard and comprehensiveness of these inventories varies Secondly, I see the need for a survey of records which are still held by unions and some preliminary listing of their holdings, in the hope that that material too will eventually find its way into libraries This task would require people visiting union offices to record their archives, they would of course need to be paid for this, but this could be done as a vacation job by students under some subsidised employment scheme The end result of these efforts would be a register of all surviving New Zealand union records, whether deposited in an institution or not, giving full descriptions, location and conditions of access in more detail than in the existing National Register of Archives and Manusc- ripts Modern technology even make it possible for this list to be multiplied on micro- fiche and made available in all major libraries and archives repositories

Bert Roth Auckland 29

NEW ZEALAND WATERSIDE WORKERS, 1915-1951 WORK, ORGANISATION AND CONFLICT

In a way, I suppose, this may appear a rather peculiar Ph D topic for a woman to choose the waterfront is certainly, if nothing else, a bastion of masculinity Further, the wharfie in New Zealand is well established in popular consciousness as the arch-villain of the piece - and rehabilitation will be an uphill task The common perception of the wharfie during this period is best illustrated by one of Minhinmck's cartoons, this one taken from the New Zealand Herald, 18 February 1947, an alternative view, but not widespread, is represented by this cartoon taken from the People's voice of 15 January 1947

I chose the waterside workers because of their importance in New Zealand labour history as workers they occupy a strategic position in the New Zealand economy which is so dependent upon imports and exports They also have the unenviable position, along- side the pivotal one of strength, of being able to alienate every sector of New Zealand society simultaneously when taking strike action the primary producers, the public generally, importers and exporters, the Government As a Union, the watersiders were one of the most consistently militant in the matters of wages and conditions of work This of course ended, as you will all know, in the dispute of 1951 resulting in the deregistration of the Union by the Holland Government

The documentary sources for this subject are rather limited by the 1951 denouement Union records were seized by the Government and have, it would seem, been destroyed A good collection of Union records was deposited by Jim Roberts in the University of Victoria Library (he was Secretary of the Union from 1915 to 1941), and sometimes other bits and pieces turn up in private collections These personal papers keep emerging (after a recent small article in The star on what I'm doing, a whole box of illegal pamphlets from 1951 was deposited at my door) Stevedoring Companies keep few employ- ment records, although the national umbrella organisation of Waterfront Employers in Wellington has a good archive with which they have been most generous Some government records are of use, particularly those of the Labour Department, and of course there is the voluminous material generated by various Inquiries and the Royal Commission in 1951 The Waterfront Control Commission has some records of its period of administration from 1940 onwards, and of course the newspapers are invaluable But there is little here to give more than tantalising glimpses of what was really going on1 on the waterfront why was conflict endemic, why did none of the changes effect any diminution of hostili- ties between the employers and watersiders7

I am leading up to why a very large part of my thesis will be derived from oral interviews with old wharfies, stevedores, and waterfront control commission men There is simply no other way in which I can hope to understand the real nature of the work, the attitudes and perceptions of the waterside workers, and the connection between them You cannot, of course, simply ask those you are interviewing what their values or perceptions of a situation were in the past, and this brings me briefly to the methodo- logy of oral history There are problems, as there are with using the documentary record, with the understanding of memory Some historians have allowed these problems to blind them to the positive aspects of oral history, A J Ρ Taylor is one, who when asked about his opinion of the practice of oral history replied, "in this matter I am an almost total sceptic old men drooling about their youth - No1" In the face of such oppostion from the old guard, practitioners of oral history, particularly in Britain, have spent much time both defining and defending oral history as a methodology In some ways this has been fruitful, for we have a well thought out body of work which examines the weaknesses and strengths of oral history to turn to However, I think the defensive posture lingered far too long, and has left oral history seeming not quite professionally respectable Rather than spend too long on a detailed discussion of this material, may I refer you to a couple of good sources Paul Thompson, The voice of the Past oral History (Oxford 0 U Ρ , 1978), and for a rather different idea of what oral history is about, Alessandro Portelli, "The Peculiarities of Oral History," in History workshop 12, Autumn 1981, pp 96-107

Returning to the problem of understanding the nature of the work on the waterfront, and the attitudes and relations it engendered, I should add I am aware that the relation- 30

ship between work and consciousness is complex and mediated by other factors such as inheritance, ethnicity, and religion among others While work does not fully determine consciousness, it is clear that it is a highly significant factor in shaping our perceptions of the world, and a sociologist, Edward Shils, put it rather well

No adult member of society is outside the system of allocation of scarce roles, facilities, and rewards, and as a result no adult - unless he is utterly, indeed almost catatomcally apathetic - can avoid rendering judgements at least about that sector of the distribution which he perceives immediately around him

Unfortunately one cannot simply ask what an individual's perceptions were in the past - they may remember, but it is more likely that such memories have been mediated by time and subsequent experience So one must approach in an indirect manner, and ask about everday experience which is usually clearly recollected (unlike memories of the dramatic days in '51, which are curiously schematic) By doing this, the same sorts of descrip- tions emerge time and time again, and it has not been difficult to understand what were the principle preoccupations of the wharfies The work was physically arduous, dirty, and dangerous, cargo was often simply dumped in the hold and holds were frequently waterlogged, and the cargo rotten Coal might have become compacted and have to be levered apart, broken up in holds with poor ventiliation and light Wheat dust caused constant nosebleeds, and cargoes like guano, slag and phosphates were particularly unpleasant If the cargo were bagged or boxed, this often meant heavy weights a double dump of wool was 8001bs, sacks of wheat up to 2121bs, boxes of butter at 64 lbs The freezer work meant very cold temperatures, and no special clothing was provided

There was always the risk of injury or death a poorly tied sling could deposit its contents on the men in the hold below, or if it accidentally banged against the coamings in the way out Ship equipment might be rusted or poorly maintained, and many an accident was caused by frayed ropes or rusted wires Nearly everyone I have interviewed so far had seen a man seriously injured or killed Bad weather caused accidents the wind, a constant problem in Wellington, could knock a man on deck off balance and down the hold 60 feet to his death And the hours worked were long the forty hour week was not applied to the waterfront, and during the War wharfies were regularly working 84 hour weeks, including night shifts - a major concession they felt, since night work was dangerous and particularly disliked

Up to 1937 (and later in some ports) the question of the engagement and distribution of labour was of critical importance to wharfies Traditionally they were engaged by the Auction Block system, that is the stevedore stood on a box with the men beneath him, and called out the names of those he wanted for the job The foremen generally had their own men or favourites, and Union activists could have very lean spells In 1937 the Bureau System came in, whereby labour was allocated and distributed among all Union members evenly and it became seemingly impossible to favour certain men However, in one interview a stevedore tells me how he got around this system, even after the Waterfront Control Commission took over control of the wharves, so he could use Seagulls (non-Union labour) who would be beholden to him and work harder Without the oral record these practices would remain unknown, and I am sure there were many more such dodges

The response by the wharfies to the difficult nature of their work was varied, but the principle way of coping was by the practice of spelling That is, taking breaks - usually hour on and hour off There was no smoko time in the Awards, and all agreed, including the stevedores, that it was impossible to work continuously in the freezers or on some of the loose cargo Breaks were essential, and the employers turned a blind eye most of the time However, after the second War spelling reached phenomenal proportions, and two wharfies told me in one interview how spelling became week on, week off Then there was theft - during the War many a wharfies house incorporated Douglas Fir Timber from the dunnage of the American ships There is a good account in the Labour Department files of the police hiding behind some crates on one vessel in Lyttelton, watching a wharfie lever the top off one crate, hold up a pair of men's pyjamas, ask if anyone wanted a pair no-one liked the look of them, so he put them back and nailed down the lid The magistrate refused to convict, much to the chagrin of police and employers But this is a rare surviving written account of theft on the 31

waterfront, and it would again be difficult to understand the full significance and extent of spelling and theft without the oral record

And so the conflict between the employers and watersiders continued over dirt rates, wet weather clauses, safety, hours, spelling and theft There were constant minor disputes that involved stoppage of work for a few hours, or a go-slow for a few days, but sometimes this escalated into a full-scale dispute where the wharfies would declare a vessel 'black' In response the employers would declare the same vessel a 'preference ship' (that is, it had to be worked before all others in Port) and in the resulting stalemate no work at all could be done I should add there were other reasons for disputes, one of which was consideration of events overseas The wharfies were very proud of their support of those fighting Franco in the Civil War, and of their refusal to load scrap iron for Japan just prior to W W 2

In 1940 the Government intervened to create the Waterfront Control Commission which ran the New Zealand waterfronts, all disputes were then taken to local and a national committee of the Commission, which was comprised of equal membership of Union and Employers, presided over by a High Court Judge It worked quite well during the War, but its ineffectiveness became apparent after the end of the War when employers and wharfies engaged once more in the ongoing battle over wages and conditions of work Ultimately the wharfies wanted worker control of the wharves in one case, that of a small shipping company begun after the War by ex-servicemen, the Union tendered direct for contracts and supervised the work, distributing the profits to the men Worker control had been the goal of Roberts in the 1920s, and was the goal of Barnes in the 1940s Clearly the Employers were adamantly opposed, and I am still endeavouring to establish what the Government said or did

I won't continue any further with the evidence for my thesis, but I hope I've given you some idea of what I have been able to discover I shall argue that work, organisa- tion and conflict were intrinsically related on the waterfront and I would like to reach some conclusions about the perceptions and consciousness of the waterside workers, and their ideology of labour An article by Luisa Passerim, in History workshop 8 (Autumn 1979) entitled "Work Ideology and Consensus under Italian Fascism" has been particularly valuable for me Passerim is looking at the working class in Turin between the two world wars,and she believes the oral records represents a new kind of material, one she calls "subjectivity", that is, cognition, memory, and ideology She has explored the work relations in Turin during this period, and developed strands of an ideology of labour I find it fascinating to compare her themes with my own work

Passerim is, of course, studying a much more stable working class embedded in a more traditional social structure than in New Zealand where the working class is more fluid Themes she finds prior to Fascism, such as work as a moral duty, pride in skill, don't emerge from my oral evidence There is certainly a pride in strength and this theme of manliness is quite pervasive There is also a strong sense of collective solidarity, engendered I am sure by the nature of the work itself On the whole I believe my thesis will show alienated labour relations on the waterfront, that resulted in collective, clandestine resistance to work The practice on the New Zealand water- front of spelling and the resistance of the wharfies to the decasualisation of water- front work represent continuous pressure for job control and the rejection of authority The connections between work ideologies and attitudes to authority, from passive acceptance to unlimited rebellion, are extremely interesting and need to be investi- gated Through this study I hope I shall be able to make some contribution to the understanding of the working class in New Zealand

I hope too, that I have been able to illustrate how important oral history is to research in those areas of history especially where the written record is incomplete or missing labour history, family, women, Maori history, among others The history of those who are not heard very clearly through orthodox historical sources I hope that we can soon have a good oral history archive established in New Zealand, for each year that passes we lose more of that first hand encounter with the past

Anna Green Department of History, University of Auckland 32

YOUTH iiORK : ARCHIVES AND HISTORY

Most 'youth work' in the nineteenth century, was, of course, carried out by the Churches and other religious institutions In the latter part of that century, too, 'adolescence' was 'discovered' One clear way, therefore, of approaching a study of the early youth work experience is through the traditional denominational-parish-diocesan records systems With the increasingly professional way in which such records are now being handled in this country by the various denominations - particularly in the last five years - this has become more feasible for the researcher 1

In many areas of religious life the response to youth work and other activities has often been co-operative or interdenominational Here the need for good record-keeping and archival processing was certainly not so well recognised One unique New Zealand contribution to the religious youth work scene since the 1880s (and one which has proved particularly productive as a training ground for local and national leaders this century) has been the denominational and inter-denominational 'Bible Class' movement 2 Whilst at the Turnbull Library (1978-84) I was very pleased to see considerable progress made in the collecting of national and local Bible Class records both in that institution (which acquired the important Presbyterian Bible Class records in the early 1980s) and by the Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican and Baptist and Salvation Army Churches 3

The lack of archival resources in this field for so many years accounts for the dearth of historical writing on the Bible Class movement To date we have had to rest content with mostly pious contemporary pamphlets and later books extolling individuals and events, but few have had any claim to serious critical or historical merit Peter J Lyneham'S recent book No Ordinary Union Centenary History of Scripture Union in New Zealand (Wellington, 1980) is, however, one example of what may be achieved by a serious historian given access to properly preserved archives and manuscripts

The study of religious revivals (and their often socially significant aftermaths) has claimed considerable research attention in Britain and North America The Moody and Sankey revivals of the 1870s are one important case 'Evangelism' often went closely hand-in-hand with social 'concern' Out of these phenomena there arose a number of move- ments reflecting a growing religious and social conscience, especially in the last three or four decades of the nineteenth century The results of these social phenomena are traceable in many movements still extant today, especially in Britain, the Commonwealth and North America Academics since World War II have taken an increasingly productive historical and sociological interest in such movements and their membership profiles The organisations themselves have also been motivated by 'centennials' and other significant anniversaries in tine to commission historical work of greater or (more usually alas) lesser historical merit I suppose that as an archival association serving users and custodians together we agree that the better histories usually rely inter alia on the objectivity and neutrality of the archival record74

The most obvious examples of the institutions and movements I am referring to here are the YMCA and YWCA (for earlier years), the Salvation Army and all its agencies, including youth, the Boys' Brigade and its offshoots (including the Girls' Life Brigade, the Girls' Brigade, Girls' Guildry, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides) and other outdoor and political and quasi-political groups like the Christian-Socialist movements, the Kibbo- Kift, the youth hostel movements, and the various forms of Scouting, health work, tramp- ing etc, many of which were also politically and socially important in the pre-First World War Europe, including Germany The significance of youth work as a factor in socio-political 'engineering' was not (and is not) lost on Nazi Germany and contemporane- ously in the Eastern Bloc and developing countries, as well as in some so-called Western nations 5

Already in the post-Second World War literature of the 1950s and 1960s there were strong indications of where the research in this field was trending, and also of the de- mands that would be made on archives Kathleen Heasman's Evangelicals in action an appraisal of social work m the Victorian era (London, 1962) and W McGeager's Making men the history of boys' clubs and related movements m Great Britain (London, 1953) were two pointers to the research of the 1970s and to the more ambitious work of, for instance, Joseph Kett (Rites of passage adolescence m America to the present (New Haven, 1977)) and John Springhall's Youth, empire and society British youth movements 1883-1940 (London, 1976) 33

These latest works have, of course, in Britain and North America at least, been able to draw upon a growing number of theses, periodical publications, wel1-preserve 1 pamphlets and the more carefully preserved archives and manuscripts relating to youth work and adolescence, as well as upon a more vigorous programme of oral history inter- views 6

In 1970-71 I first approached The Boys ' Brigade International Headquarters in London about the desirability of collecting archives for their International centennial due in 1983 My own interest had' been stimulated by an approacn to gather the sources and write a history of the movement for Australia and Papua New Guinea in 1966 7 It was then that I realised how deficient were the archival records in public, if not private, repositor- ies in this field My approach to London culminated in the fortunate appointment of Dr John Springhall to edit, critically the Boys' Brigade official centennial history in collaboration with Dr Brian Fraser and myself and subsequently published in 1983 as Sure and Stedfast A History of The Boys' Brigade 1883-1983 (London and Glasgow) Since the editing is not mine I think I may safely claim that the text belies the somewhat bland (but not atypical) title1 The rather more pertinent other outcome to my digressions apart from the book, were that The Boys' Brigade in Britain appointed one of its principal record-keepers, Miss Muriel Ellis, as an amateur 'archivist' The bonus for me was that I productively came into contact with the writings and research of John Springhall and his colleagues One continues to benefit from the interplay

In 1978 I was in contact through Springhall with the Youth Movement Archivist, Michael Breaks, of University College, Cardiff His 'Archive' is part of the Social Sciences Library in the College and in March 1976 'consisted only of a few boxes of assorted material from the Scouts, Guides, Jewish Youth Clubs and Woodcraft Folk' 8 In the next two years donations had come from the Woodcraft Folk and Kibbo-Kift, mainly through the efforts of Paul Wilkinson, by then a well-established writer on British youth movements and a member of the Politics Department of University College, Cardiff 9

The work of the Cardiff Youth Movement Archive was also the recipient of a grant of £1,250 from the Social Sciences Research Council to further the proper 'processing' of youth work archives Here was small proof that archives could attract public funds, however, modest, for socially relevant projects

Springhall gives the following reasons for the importance of research in this field -

Youth movements do not claim the rather solemn attention of the historian simply because of the many thousands of boys and young men who have enlisted as members of such organisations Over the past century, they have also functioned as extremely sensitive barometers of shifts in public and govern- mental attitudes towards the military in British society In addition, youth movements acted as indicators of the general demographic, cultural and economic conditions conducive to the recognition and institutionalisation of adolescence that were just beginning to come into existence around the turn of the century One of the crucial issues posed by youth move- ments as they have developed in Britain, however, is whether or not they are best characterised by the 'hegemonic' relationship between leaders and led, or whether they can be seen with equal validity as rungs on the ladder of mobility to higher social status A third possibility is that there is no real or inherent contradiction between the exercise of 'hegemony' and such opportunities for rising within the social hierarchy as were provided for by a voluntary organisation 10

Similar questions can also be profitably explored about indigenous youth movements in Australia and New Zealand (Springhall has since pointed out the avoidance by many writers of young women's and girls' organisations )2i For many decades young people came to the cities to seek their fortune alone and often found their only socially stable and upwardly mobile environment within the Bible Class or similar movements Many learned skills of oratory, self-reliance, confidence and leadership there which distinguished them later in other spheres of life

One thesis to emerge firmly from the research of Springhall and his contemporaries is that it was as a result of middle class and upper class 'social anxiety' about the rising working class (and their unions and militancy) and the same privileged classes' 34

concern about the breakdown of Empire and society last century that the foundation of youth movements as agencies of 'socialisation' and 'reinforcement' to safeguard established values was promoted British troops made at the beginning a poor showing against the Boers in the South African War, revealing the rundown physical and mental state of the mother country's youth and young men and its total unpreparedness for im- perial and national emergencies 'Muscular Christianity' and training in the virtues of 'manliness' were adopted as the prime methods for some of the new movements as social experimenters borrowed from the 'success' of the public and grammar school systems The various branches of The Boys' Brigade and the school cadet organisations were two move- ments which adopted these philosophies absolutely in the beginning 12

Whilst there were always many ready to support such 'social reinforcement' there were also others who objected to the militarism implied These and other differences in philosophy led to bitter arguments and splits within youth movements The Boys' Life Brigade, for instance, formed itself in 1899 'in opposition' to the then more outwardly militaristic Boys' Brigade Pacifist youth movements also arose Conversely as the drift of world politics became clearer into the new century a military stance became more widely acceptable Thus the early mainline Scouting movement (1908 onwards) was closely identified with the military establishments of Britain and the Empire (allies for God and country), but after the World War of 1914-1918 the Scouting movement adopted, conformable to the pacifist post-war mood, a much less military stance Indeed, even before 1914, the Brigades movements - the Boys' Brigade, Boys' Life Brigade, Jewish Lads Brigade and Catholic Boys' Brigade - had banded together successfully to resist official efforts by the British War Office to take them over as cheap ready-made pre-service organisations The power of dissent proved strong enough to upset the designs of the military planners 13

Social historians maintain and show, therefore, that youth movements are sometimes delicate barometers of contemporary public opinion, moods and politics Their records attain some social historical significance who was involved as leaders, how much did they influence the 'led' and so on7 Speeches, diaries, minutes, propaganda, publica- tions, membership records provide direct insights into the socio-relígious or political ethos of such movements But until recent years the 'official' house histories of these movements have been largely uncritical, oftenjingoisticor merely re-echoes of the founders', pioneers' and followers' aspirations and successes There are some notable exceptions S G Culllford's New Zealand Scouting the first fifty years 1908-1958 (Wellington, 1958) is one such It is a remarkably critical and incisive account of the early internal strife and success in New Zealand Scouting Indeed more recent re- search into Scouting's origins internationally has revealed some less than flattering insights into Lord Baden-Powell's aims, methods and thinking 14

Springhall has been able also to demonstrate the regional and local impact and peculiarity of youth movements In East London, for instance, the Jewish Lads' Brigade, serving a largely immigrant community of Poles and Russians, helped greatly with the problems of social and racial integration of young Jews into the English commumty in the 1890s and early 1900s In the North London suburb of Enfield, thanks to the dili- gence of the Enfield Central Library's collecting policy and Springhall's and others' careful oral history interviewing programme, an in-depth social study of the impact of the very active Boy Scout and Boys' Brigade units in the area between 1888 and 1914 would be attempted i5 We are reminded of the possibilities of such local studies in New Zealand where the new approaches to social history are still at the pioneering phase in the work being done in Dunedin and Wellington, for instance

Youth work history, being mostly recent or contemporary can be approached from 'above' or 'below' from the leaders' or providers' viewpoint or from the "clients" or youth viewpoint My own realisation of the problems and possibilities inherent in this genre of contemporary and oral history began with the frustrations and fillips I found locating and interviewing leaders and led in Australia for Boys, urchins and men (see footnote 7) between 1966 and 1974 In the early years the interviews were often hastily snatched, ill-prepared research experiences in all Australian states and territories The thing with oral history, or at least oral interviewing and note- taking, is that you do learn from your early mistakes The official records of the Companies, Groups and Battalions of The Boys' Brigade tended, I found, to be richer in the records of the leaders and their instruction and programmes rather than in the thoughts and aspirations of the boys they commanded It was, however, amazing what did turn up in private hands Many units, too, had kept the enrolment or registration 35

forms of their joining members giving fathers' occupations, education, dwelling etc This sort of material has been well used by Springhall and his contemporaries for the British youth movements' sociological and historical profiles

By the very nature of most youth organisations, however, their records and record- keeping are often obscure, diffuse and hard, if at all possible, to find When approached to tackle a similar history for The Boys' Brigade in New Zealand I certainly felt better equipped to tackle the task We were able to thrust the origins of The Boys' Brigade confidently back to 1886 (three years after the Glasgow original foundation) and 1887 in Christchurch and Auckland respectively 16 Many Boys' Brigade units were formed between then and 1908 but their work was essentially ephemeral or the records have been largely lost, except in the memories of many of the old men interviewed Opportunities once given need to be followed up immediately

In Canada and U S A I was privileged to be able to follow similar lines of Boys' Brigade historical research early in 1978 in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Washington and Baltimore, all important centres of Brigade work from the 1890s onwards The re- ported records appeared just as bare in the finding aids as in Britain, Australia and New Zealand Persistent digging and those fortunate liaisons of historical and archival research, together with some steady importuning, produced many collections of individuals' and local units' papers and records in libraries, archives repositories, church premises and in private hands The Boys' Brigade, like many of its contemporary co-organisations, was very missionary and 'extension' conscious and it came as no surprise, therefore, to find it springing up before 1914 in New Guinea, Honolulu (Hawaii), Hong Kong, Burma, Japan, India and China and the West Indies, South American and African colonies Such was the strength of ideas exported rapidly from the mother heartland 17

The commencement of r,ovements like the Boys' Brigade was often seen locally as marking the real genesis of an active organised interest in child welfare, child un- employment and related concerns in the given territory or country In Adelaide and Sydney, for example, and also in Honolulu, Brigade work often took the form of a local boys' institute catering for all aspects of a young man's welfare employment, leisure, savings, hobbies and 'total wellbeing' In Dunedin, too, the Brigade got off to a prominent start in the social welfare sphere in 1891 in the Presbyterian Church of St Andrew's, the Church of Rev Rutherford Waddell In Auckland the original Brigade Company at St James' Methodist Church merged early into the very successful Wesley Young Mens' Institute (WYMI), which long had an important influence on Auckland's youth

Fortunately the growth of youth organisations into 'national bodies' usually brought the obvious advantages of national offices and full-time staff For archives and records keeping these were propitious starting points, provided the youth organi- sations themselves took a positive attitude towards their record keeping Unfortunately most did not

Most 'national headquarters' in New Zealand seemed to be going by the 1930s and 1940s Most full-time secretaries were overworked and underpaid for long hours Only a few had time to preserve records - the volunteers by and large were better at this

In 1976, whilst still Brigade Historian (a voluntary position), I was able to negotiate with the Turnbull Library for the extant headquarters records of The Boys' Brigade in New Zealand (Inc) to be deposited in the Manuscript Section of that in- stitution The core collection was subsequently added to from other sources, both Brigade and private The collection (now MS Papers 2024) was arranged and described before I left the Turnbull in 1984 and comprises a comprehensive archive of the move- ments' headquarters , local and company activities since 1932 as well as series relating to overseas and Pacific affairs and relations with other youth organisations, agencies and government departments

The Turnbull also houses other significant collections in this field of research notably the records of the Y W C A from 1919 (national and branch records), CORSO and the Presbyterian Bible Class movement, as well as related records in Church archives and papers The Boys' Brigade overseas has attracted interest from nearly ten theses writers, although the work by David MacLeod 'God Boys made better the Boy Scouts of America, Boys' Brigades and Y M C A Boys' work'(PhD, Umv of Wisconsin, 1973) demon- strates the inadequacy of research relying solely upon printed sources (magazines, news- 36

papers and ephemera) Springhall and others in Britain are building upon the work of the 1970s and studying broader topics such as adolescence, character-building and the socialisation of youth in the historical context In a sense for us the work has only just begun

Michael Ε Hoare Wellington

REFERENCES <

ι In this regard I would pay particular tribute to the work over the past several years of the Religious Archives Committee of ARANZ and its various convenors and members My own debt to my former colleague Mrs Patricia Olliff, formerly of the Turnbull Library Manuscripts Section, who arranged and described and organised several major Church collections in model style is particularly great

2 National leaders like Walter Nash, John Marshall, Arnold Nordmeyer,David Lange and David Caygill owe much to their Bible Class-youth work experience, to name a few

3 The Roman Catholic Church has always been more careful with its records Father Simmons work in Auckland is but one model example

4 The problem of such writing, of course, lies in the commitment to a cause expected from the 'in house1 authors appointed

5 See e g Friedrich Heer, Revolutions of OUT time challenge of youth (London, 1974)

6 My own interest in this field stems from work done in Germany in 1960-63 and pre- sented partially as a Β A disseration 'Evannelical youth work in Nazi Germany, 1935-1945, University of Hull, Department of German, 1963

7 Eventually published as Boys, urchins, men a history of the Boys' Brigade m Australia and Papua New Guinea (Sydney, 1980)

3 Michael Breaks to author, 14 November 1978

9 Paul Wilkinson, 'English youth movements, 1908-1930', Journal of Contemporary His- tory 4(2), 1969, pp 3-23 An earlier paper by John Springhall on a similar theme was 'The Boy Scouts, Class and Militarism in Relation to British Youth Movements, 1908-1930', International Review of Social History, 16(2), 1971, pp 125-58

10 Springhall, Youth Empire s Society, 1976, pp 13-14

11 The Manuscripts Section of the Alexander Turnbull Library houses the records or part-records of the Y M C A, C 0 R S 0 , The Boys' Brigade in New Zealand, New Zealand Red Cross Society, the Girls' Friendly Society and other youth 'movements'

12 See Roger Openshaw's work at Massey University eg his 'The evolution to the Great War', MA thesis, Massey University, 1973 64pp and his subsequent research

13 Springhall et al, Sure s stedfast, 1983, pp 97-100

14 See e g R Baden-Powell, Boy Scouts beyond the seas "My World Tour", London, 1913 which is racist, paternalistic and takes what can only be called a peculiarly 'British-are-best' view of imperial history Baden-Powell has also been revealed as idiosyncratically autocratic

15 John Springhall, Youth, empire and society, pp 85-97

16 Some of the preliminary research is reported in Michael Ε Hoare, Faces of Boyhood

It is planned that a fuller book will follow

17 The story of these and later developments are told in my three chapters in sure and stedfast 37

THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY PRESENT TRENDS AND FUTURE POLICIES

Most observers of the library and research community, and most regular users of the Turnbull, will be aware that the emphases of the Library have been changing in recent years Some people detect what they believe is a hostility to the casual reference user, others detect what they think is a lack of enthusiasm for genealogical users, others think the serious scholars are being neglected, while others are worried because they can't detect any pattern in the changes they observe One reaction is to pin the label elitist, and think that is a serious diagnosis

When the Turnbull became part of the National Library in 1966 some change was inevitable What propelled the Library into major changes was the assumption of a new, national role in the collection and long-term preservation of the printed materials relating to New Zealand One of the first manifestations was the appointment to the Turnbull of the first library conservation specialist in New Zealand in the late 1960s The Trustees of the National Library assigned a new national role to the Turnbull back in 1966 but the full working out of the Turnbull's responsibilities is unlikely to be achieved before 1987 when we are housed in the National Library building The changes stemming from the Turnbull's new responsibilities for the national documented heritage within the National Library add up to a trend Searching for some phrase to express this trend - "towards maturity" "towards national responsibility" doesn't help very much - I offer this formulation "away from the stand-alone reference and research library towards the national research and resource library" Our present policies cluster around this idea of the outward-looking "research and reference resource library" and any new policies are likely to strengthen the trend I think a brief history of the development of ideas about the role of the Turnbull will help explain what I mean For Johannes Andersen, who controlled the Library's destiny from 1920 to 1936, it was clearly a research library dedicated to the needs of scholars It is a natural interpretation of Turnbull's wishes expressed in his will Unfortunately for Andersen, the scholars were very thin on the ground, and the Library soon took on the nature of a book museum, serving a tiny bank of scholars Andersen presided over a research library before its time, and paid the price of a lack of public and political support Clyde Taylor, who followed him, took the Library along a new track as a public reference library He called it, in his annual reports, a "reference and research library", serving at the same time and without conflict the needs of the very small, but growing, research community, and the rapidly growing needs of New Zealanders for a good reference service in things New Zealand He was spectacularly successful, increasing the users between five and tenfold (predominantly reference users), and lucky in that the numbers levelled off quickly and remained remarkably steady over almost 40 years up to the late 1960s The Library was seen to be serving a public need, it was not just the preserve of a tiny scholarly elite Taylor and his librarians, anxious to offer a broad-based public reference service, and faced with the almost total lack of New Zealand reference books - that is the compendiums of standard answers, who, what, when and where - which are the stock in trade of reference libraries in Europe and North America, did what other libraries in young countries had done before They treated the total collections as a reference source, even the unique manuscripts and original paintings, and opened up direct access to everything through in-house card indexes The model available across the Tasman was the Mitchell Library in Sydney which was already well down this path in the 1930s

In the old world scholarly libraries it was assumed that the scholar, needing to know everything, had no need for such indexes to selected facts Here, and you see the same process at work in the other New Zealand libraries Everyman is invited to enter into primary source material in search of retrievable usable facts And it worked remarkably well The collections showed more wear and tear, it is true, but the situa- tion was not serious and it was sustainable In 1965, based on a pattern of demand steady for almost 40 years, it was decided that the Turnbull could and should continue these policies, and take on the additional role of the national collection of last resort, dedicated to maintaining as comprehensive a collection as possible of New Zealand material in perpetuity By the early 1970s, faced with rapidly rising demand which had not been anticipated, an accelerating deterioration of the collections, and scientific knowledge of the instability of most of the paper in the collections, it was 38

clear that the roles assigned to the Turnbull were incompatible and a new philosophy and new policies were required

In the search for new policies which would allow the Library to preserve the collections long term, to serve the researcher, and serve the general public, careful consideration was given to the environment in which the Library functioned We identified these major elements

1 GROWING DEMAND FOR NEW ZEALAND REFERENCE INFORMATION

Our experience, and that of thepublic libraries, and National Archives, indicated that the demand for New Zealand reference information was likely to grow rapidly for a considerable period of time The pressure on the national book stock would be increased by our growing bibliographic sophistication - Bagnall's retrospective National Bibliography, for example, would increase the demand for older books This demand, concentrated on a few copies (most New Zealand books appear in small editions) was likely to wear out the stocks of New Zealand books in our libraries Lending stock would show the pressures first, but this pressure would soon show in non-lending reference1stock

2 PAUCITY OF NEW ZEALAND REFERENCE BOOKS

Compared with Europe, North America, even Australia, our stocks of true "reference" books - the one stop source for precise answers to standard quwstions - are very small A great deal of needed information about New Zealand is not yet in reference books This deficit is likely to remain with us for some time because good reference books are expensive to compile and need a large market to attract publishers Our market is still too small to support a commercial reference book industry

In addition, and I make the point at length in my recently published pamphlet New Zealand Studies A guide to Bibliographic Resources, too much of the information we need is still buried deep in the primary sources, in manuscripts and archives

3. INCREASING ABILITY TO OVERCOME THE GEOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS TO ACCESS

When libraries were seen as isolated pockets of book knowledge, the institution- specific catalogue was king The trend is now away from such catalogues, which open up only the holdings of a specific library, towards the bibliography which lists the whole universe of publications on a subject, or by an author Such bibliographies open up total resources, wherever they are located, and an indivi- dual library is now seen as just one well sunk into the vast pool of bibliographic items The new technology will soon make it possible to negate entirely the geography of holdings At present we can use microforms to make practically anything in one library available in another, and in the not too distant future we should be able to tranfer such materials electronically within minutes anywhere m the world

4 THE DISPERSED NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

It is now quite clear to all that no one institution can hope to encompass the whole of the national heritage in documentary form A library can come close with printed books, newspapers, periodicals, printed maps, but the photographs, manusc- ripts, archives, paintings and drawings, and oral history recordings of national value will be dispersed among many institutions Our national documentary heritage is everywhere, and only a cooperative national enterprise can collect and save that heritage Turnbull has a role to play, but it is the role of a partner with others

5 DECAY

Most of our documentary heritage is on unstable paper and we shall have to make surrogate copies if we are to preserve materials on paper

To recapitulate, the environment is one in which there is an accelerating demand Archifacts 1986/2 Supplement ii

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

COUNCIL

Being President from Dunedin, far from the clamours of Wellington, has not been easy. The danger, not always avoided, was that I might have become a Japanese Emperor, remote and powerless without even the compensation of being deemed sacred. However, the use of the telephone, and the support of two experienced and active officers in Wellington, Brad Patterson as Vice-President and Michael Hoare as Secretary, has done much towards overcoming the handicap of my remote location. I am extrememly grateful for their help in all matters. Other members of the Council elected at the Annual General Meeting in Auckland on 6th September were: Anne Bromell (Auckland) as Vice- President, Richard Hill (Wellington) as Treasurer, Mary Reid (New Plymouth), Brian Henderson (Wanganui), Marlene Sayers, David Retter, Sherwood Young (all of Wellington), Caroline Etherington (Christchurch), and Stephen Innes (Dunedin, then Hamilton). Michael Hodder, as Editor, was ex officio a member. In this way a good geographical spread and broad representation of interests were achieved. Three Council members assumed additional duties: David Retter undertook the vital work of Membership Secretary, Mary Reid acted very efficiently as Minutes Secretary for Council meetings, and Anne Bromell supervised the reformation of the Association's finances, of which more will be said later.

Council met six times during the course of the year: once, immediately after the Annual General Meeting, on 7th September, and thereafter on 11th October, 13th December, 21st February, 6th June and 18th July. This increased frequency of meetings, particu- larly the two before Christmas, got Council business off to a good start and gave it an impetus, which otherwise would have been very difficult to sustain. This pattern is recommended for future years. However, it does impose a considerable burden on out of Wellington members, and in recognition of this Council has authorised the payment of half a thrifty air fare up to a maximum of $90 for each Council attendance. In this connection I am particularly grateful to the University of Otago Library, which, always supportive of the work of the Association, paid for four and a half return airfares on my behalf. Finally, our warmest thanks are due to the Boys Brigade and Michael Hoare, as Brigade Secretary, for providing a very pleasant venue for Council meetings at Brigade HQ in Mt Victoria.

MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCES

A strong and expanding membership is essential to support the work of the Associa- tion, and in this report is is pleasing to report a modest improvement. At the end of the financial year on 31st March 1986 the Association's membership reached a new high of 524, comprising 137 institutional and 387 personal members, compared to a total of 469 (118 institutional and 351 personal) in the previous year. At last year's Annual General Meeting an increase in subscriptions to compensate for the effects of inflation was authorised, and for New Zealand members these were set at $17 and $25 for personal and institutional members respectively, with an additional $3 for overseas members in each case. There is no doubt that these increases have had a restraining effect on renewals and new subscriptions, so the present level (at 18th July 1986) of 434 members only four months into the current financial year can be regarded as satisfactory.

A major effort to update and streamline the Association's membership records was successfully concluded. These had fallen somewhat intodisarray as the original procedures had been devised ten years ago for a much smaller organisation and were no longer coping. Cheryl Campbell rendered the Association an inestimable service in cleaning the membership records, and her work has been continued by David Retter, who, as Membership Secretary, has put in place more certain procedures of recording and notification.

Anne Bromell has performed much the same task for the finances of the Association which underwent their first reformation since the Association's beginning. Under the old, somewhat degraded systems the Association had begun to experience severe cash flow problems, with a deficit of $3,624 being recorded in the 1984/85 financial year. m

The new restructuring takes maximum advantage of automated banking and reporting, so reducing the human labour required, and pays particular attention to the careful matc- hing of income and revenue.for each financial year. As a result of these improvements, aided by a timely injection of profits from the Auckland conference and by the increase in subscriptions, the Association's financial position has been secured, with a modest excess of income over expenditure of $509 at the end of the last financial year. Archifacts continues to be by far the largest item of expenditure, accounting for 90% of the whole. More detailed information is available in the attached Statement of Income and Expenditure, and Balance Sheet.

BRANCHES

All four branches of the Association continued in good heart, with a regular programme of meetings in each place. The Auckland branch benefitted from the stimulus provided by the Auckland conference and recruited several new members. Its meetings have included visits to the Ewelme Cottage, Mt Eden Borough Council, the Auckland Catholic Diocesan Archives, and to the home of Verna Mossong, who explained the passenger shipping evidences of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. Verna Mossong, a former President of that Society, has finally stepped down as Chairperson of the Auckland branch after many years of sterling service on its executive. The genealogical connection in Auckland has always been exceptionally strong. Verna has been succeeded in office by Rachel Lilburn, Local Authority Advisory Archivist at the National Archives in Auckland.

As befits its location in the largest archives centre in the country the Wellington branch, under David Retter of the Turnbull Library, offered the most ambitious programme with regular, and very well attended meetings at two-monthly intervals. Amongst these have been talks on records management in Canada and New Zealand, oral history, cartog- raphic archives, and female immigration; and visits to the Police Museum at Porirua, to the Post Office Museum, and, as part of the 1986 Conference programme, to the BNZ Archives. In addition the branch has organised and promoted, in conjunction with Victoria University, an arrangement and description seminar immediately prior to the 1986 Conference. The branch has also begun issuing its own newsletter.

The Canterbury/Westland branch, youngest of the four being revived in September last year after a period of recess, is still at the stage of finding its feet. Despite this, three meetings were held: at the University of Canterbury Library, on Maori archives, and on paper conservation. The branch's constitution was substantially amended, and its name changed from Canterbury to Canterbury/Westland to encompass a wider membership. The Chairperson is Caroline Etherington, an archivist at National Archives' Christchurch office and to whom the revival of the branch is largely due.

The senior branch, Otago/Southland, by a few days over Wellington, pursued its usual steady course, with a regular and varied programme of meetings presided over by Peter Miller of the Hocken Library. Amongst these were visits to the University of Otago archives and to the Holy Cross College archives, talks on New Zealand police history and wise's directories, a panel discussion on access to archives, and a one day conservation seminar.

ARCHIFACTS

Archifacts is the Association's standard, and many members join the Association solely to receive it for the information it provides about archives and archives activities in New Zealand and elsewhere. During the year under review four issues appeared: for September and December 1985, and for March and June 1986, the last issue containing the proceedings of the 1985 Conference. All issues reflect the very high standard of production imposed by Michael Hodder as Editor. Archifacts has its own distinctive voice in the community of archives journals. Editing Archifacts, however, is the most relentlessly demanding of all the Association's activities, and after five productive years as Editor, Michael has now indicated his wish to hand the work on to somebody else. An early task of the new Council will be to find and appoint a new Editor. Michael deserves our warmest thanks for the service he has given to Archifacts and the Association. Also deserving of particular mention is the work of Richard Greenaway as Reviews Editor. He has perservered valiantly with well intentioned i ν

reviewers over the last seven years. Mark Stevens, Kay Sanderson, and Cheryl Campbell have also contributed in different ways.

Two other Archifacts matters require mention. At its June meeting Council decided, as a means of marking the Association's tenth anniversary, to reissue the first series of Archifacts, which appeared as the bulletin of the Archives Committee of the New - Zealand Library Association between 1974 and 1976, as this has long been out of print, and complete sets anywhere are scarce. It will be on sale at the 1986 Conference in Wellington. Secondly, the Association has accepted a proposal by Frank Rogers, editor of the well reviewed directory, Archives New Zealand, that he prepare a consolidated index to both series of Archifacts. This will fill a long-felt need, and make the contents of Archifacts more widely accessible.

CONFERENCE 1985

This, opened by Dr Michael Bassett, Minister of Local Government, was held in Auckland on 6th and 7th September at the Auckland Technical Institute's North Shore Campus. It was hugely successful in every way. There were 184 separate registrations, easily a record for an Association conference and revealing just some of the potential interest in archives in the largely untapped Auckland region. The quality of the papers presented, particularly in the more specialised sessions on business, local authority, and Maori archives, was excellent; and these are now published in the June 1986 issue of Archifacts. Financially, the Conference was something of a lifesaver for the Association as profits from it contributed $2659 to our empty coffers, thereby almost removing the deficit incurred in the previous year. The success of this conference was due to three persons: to Mark Stevens for his organisation of the programme; to Hugh Francis, Executive Officer of the Northern Archives and Records Trust, who was responsible for local arrangements and sponsorships which covered the cost of publicity, printing and stationery; and to Anne Bromell, who kept an eagle eye on finances.

PUBLIC ISSUES

Turnbull Library closure. Following the resolution passed at the last Annual General Meeting deploring the closure of the Alexander Turnbull Library for the period between its removal from The Terrace premises until its reopening in the new National Library building in April 1987, the Association issued a press release expressing its members' displeasure. It received considerable publicity in newspapers in all the main centres, and in a number of provincial ones as well. Additional grievance was caused by the shortness of notice of the date of closure set for December 1986. The National Librarian met the Association's President on the matter, and later in February the full Council of the Association without a satisfactory resolution, though some services have been maintained through to at least August this year.

Public Archives and Records Bill. As a high priority the Association took the initiative in arranging a meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs to seek an early introduction of archives legislation. A delegation saw the Minister in December, and sought the reintroduction of the archives bill which had lapsed when Parliament was dissolved prior to the last election. We proposed a number of changes, notably an independent annual report to Parliament by the National Archivist and the establishment of an archives advisory council. The Minister, though receptive to our views, did not commit himself definitely, and then sought our wider views on a heritage department, which we have given him in a separate submission. Subsequently the President has put the Association's position to his Member of Parliament, Mr S. Rodger, who is also the Minister for State Services, and to the Senior Government Whip, Dr. Michael Cullen. It is obvious that the pressures of the current Labour government's hectic legislative programme has caused archives legislation to fall well down the scale of priorities. Yet, it is still our hope to have a bill introduced before the end of the current parlia- mentary session.

Historical Publications Branch. The Branch was the year the subject of a ministe- rial review conducted by Dr. R. Williams. The Association took the opportunity ν

to present a written submission on the proper role of the Branch, emphasising the importance of its work, and the need for fundamental archives research into New Zealand's administrative history.

other issues. The Association also concerned itself with the welfare of the Newspaper and Document Collections in the General Assembly Library, the status of The Alexander Turnbull Library, the hours of opending in the new National Library building, the treatment of maps in the New Zealand National Bibliography, and the review of records management in the Public Service conducted by Patricia Acton, a Canadian consultant.

A.G. BAGNALL

Finally, I must pay tribute to one of the longest standing friends of archives in this country and an original member of our Association, Austin Graham Bagnall, 1912- 1986, a former Chief Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library, a compiler of the New Zealand National Bibliography to 1960, and indefatiguable and impeccable researcher amongst archives. A man who saw well beyond the covers of books and files, a man of scholarship, an influence for good, Graham Bagnall will be sorely missed by his many friends and this Association.

S.R. Strachan President

August 1986

TREASURER'S NOTE

The Annual Accounts for 1986/87 are presented on the following page.

The accounts show the Association had a surplus of Income over Expenditure of $509-04. This has been achieved due to receipt of the profit from the ARANZ Conference held in Auckland, the diligence shown by Membership Officer in collecting subscriptions and the substantial reduction in administrative spending.

Considerable increases in the cost of printing and despatching 'Archifacts' have been experienced even though the number of journal pages per annum has remained constant. GST will further increase costs and subscription increases are inevitable if the Council is to meet all of the Association's aims and objects.

Richard Hill Hon. Treasurer vi

ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND (INC)

STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1986.

1985 INCOME 1986

4928 Subscriptions 9256.86 191 Interest 371.34 100 Loan repayment - conference 234.00 259 Conference Profit 2559.10 80 Sale of 'Archifacts' 362.00 850 1983 Course profits 190 Donations 9.00 6598 TOTAL INCOME 12792.30 1985 EXPENDITURE 1986 'Archifacts' 981 Typing 1403.75 6077 Printing 8480.20 98 Bromides 657 Postage/Registration/Labels/Envelopes 1191.06 7813 Cost of producing 'Archifacts' 11075.01 Administration 282 Postage/Box rental/Stationery 82.50 160 Photocopying/typing 228.52 244 Membership processing 143.63 700 Travel grants - Council 496.00 180 " " Other 417 Grants to Branches 50.00 122 Subs - ICA & IRMC 173.45 General Expenses & Bank charges 33.25 234 Loan re Conference 45 Meeting room rental 25 Grant - Women's Archives Committee - 2409 Total Administration Costs 1207.35 10222 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 12282.36 (3624) Excess expenditure over income - 1985 - Excess income over expenditure - 1986 509.94 6598 TOTAL 12792.30

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 1986 Cash in bank and Invested BNZ Wellington - No. 1 Account - No. 2 Account (Subs)

TOTAL WORTH OF ASSN AS AT 31 MARCH 1986 $ 1890.84

Total worth represented by: Accumulated funds as at 31 March 1985 1380.90 Plus excess of Income over Expenditure 509.04 TOTAL FUNDS OF ASSN AS AT 31 MARCH 1986 $ 1890.84 NATIONAL ARCHIVES ACCOMMODATION AND STAFF P.1S During die year the transfer to die Employers' Federation Building WHS completed. It lias been possible to house approximately 1,4U0 cubic feet of documents in the new premises. The move has enabled the archivée to be kept in better order and made more accessible, as well as greatly reducim* the risk of damage by fire, damp, dust, and vermin. The change in premises has ended a long association with the Chief Librarian and the staff of the General Assembly Library, and the Depart- ment wishes to record its appreciation of the unfailing helpfulness and co-operation received during the time that the archives were housed in the library building. The available space for documents in the new premises is now filled. Similarly, no further considerable accessions can be accommodated in the archives store at Scaview, which now holds approximately 1,200 cubic feet of documents. Despite this not inconsiderable bulk there axe many more documents now in Departments and offices that ought properly to be transferred to the custody of the National Archives. To help meet this diifjculty the Department lias under consideration the appointment of records survey officers, who will be attached to certain Departments in order to ascertain the quantity and type of records that should be transferred from office premises to the custody of the National Archives.

VISIT OF DR. T. R. S C H E L LE N S E RC Λπ cwiu of nieai importance to the National Archives was the visit to New Zealand of Dr T. R. SclieHr-iibcrf;. Director of Archival Manage- ment in the National Archives of the United States. In the short time available to hint in this country Dr SchcilcnhnrK made a thorough examination of the problems confronting the National Archives and his recommendations and advice will bo of i;>-eat value lo the Department. .His visit was m«ite possible by the courtesy and interest of the United States National Archives and by the t;ciiciwily of the United States Educational Foundation.

ACCESSIONS The new premises have permitted the National Archives to receive some small though valuable new aixf^sionv These include part of die archives of the Department of Internal AtVuiw for the period 1840-ÍÍ5. the archives-nf die German Administration in Samoa (1UÍXM4), and part of the :u chives of the former province of New Munster.

RESEARCH FACILITIES The publication of inventories bus continued and these have ticen receivcrl with interest by die public in New Zealand and overseas. Readers have made good use of the resources of the National Archives for historical and other research and the reference service continues to afford good service to those who cannot visit the Archives in person.

CHANGE OF TITLE This function of the Department is now known as National Archives, replacing the oH mle of Dominion Archives, in use since the inception of the work in 192b.

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs, AJHR, 1955, H-22, pp.34-35 V. ltJSl'ÜKT UF TU Κ ADVISORY DIRECTOR, TURNBULL LIBRARY.

General Assembly Library, Wellington, tiíl-h July, 11*19. The Turnbull Librurv, Mío ííitt to tlic State of the luto Alexander 11. Turnbull, was taken over by Mío Department til Jiilcnml AlTitire in I1M8. 'J'lio library consist* oí some ."10,000 fourni volumes, together with α large collection of ¡»uiu|ihl«l«, charts, inii|iH, engravings, and manuscript*. . The library in specially rich in works deuhng with tho early history, geography, languages, unci folk-lore of New Zealnucl, Australia, and tin- l'auiiie Islands. In addition it includes many rare mid valuable wnfkn in .English ami l-'rouch literature, being particularly rich in copies ollirst editions, autographed and " association " hooks, muuy being exceedingly valuable. I have nub deemed it wither necessary or desirable to attempt any detailed estimate of the value of the library, lte bibliophilie treasures (emite, outaide the Now Zealand and Australian section) are, 1 may, however, bp permitted to state, far greater limn those of any other public or private library in thé Dominion, with the exception of the Grey Collection in Auckland, which however, wan formed on linee imite different from theme followed by the lata Mr. Turnbull. It is more than doubtful if in am* part of the British Oversea Dominions there exists Biich an extensive and valuable collection of lingüáli literary rarities and bibliophilie treasures as are to lie found in the Turnbull Library. A fl|«cial feature of tho library is the almost immaculate " condition " (if the bookH, aud the astonishing propurtiou of artistic and very costly bindings, by such lumuiut binders as Zabnudorll, Colxlen Sanderson, Saugarowski and Sutcliffe, Riviere, Uizin, and other linns which might be mentioned. In due course it is hojied that the price given by Mr. Turnbull for each volume or set of works will be ascertained, aud that the present-day values of the books, as established by the prices realized at sales at Sotheby's, of Loudon, and the Anderson Galleries, New York, may also be placed on record. This, however, is η IOBIC which may well be Mt untouched until the whole collection is classified and catalogued. Meanwhile, judging by information as to book-values gained Erom Slater's " book Prices -Current " and Karalake's " Book Auction Records "—wherein each great sale is reported in detail—i should say that a very conservative estimate of the actual preseut-day rommereial value of the collection as it now stands could be. not lose than £80.000. By reason of its special and peculiar wealth of rare ami valuable books, charts, and manuscripts on Australasian history, geography, and ethnology. ¡1. must rightly be considered as of almost priceless value to the jH'tipIc of this country. Tun fSTAi'K. (lu the 1st. January, IÍMU. Mr, Johannes I'. Andoneen, one of the senior assistante in the General Aseemblv Library, who had been appointed Librarian by the l'ublic*Servie.c GominiBsioners, took charge of the library, ami at once commenced a preliminary aud general classification of the books, pamphlets, &c. On the 1st May. HUH, three lady assistants, M jasen-Q. "B. C'owles, G. F. C. Davidson, and M. D. Grnv, commenced their duties under Mr. Andersen, and are now, under hie superintendence, engaged in elnssilying, arranging, and writing catalogue cards for the bound volumes in the collection, some ¡10,000 in number. The lute Mr. Turnbull had partinlly prepared a card catalogue, but it was merely a record of possession and was very incomplete, there being no record of classification according to subject., nor any indication as to the exact locality of the volumes on the shelves in the various rooms. WORK ALUICAHÏ DONK. It became, inanifeel that before the library could be utilised for reference purposes the whole of Mie books must lie accessioned in a register and properly catalogued, This work is now in progress. Alreadv, up to the date of thin report, some two thousand volumes, the whole consisting of voyages and travels, η nil relating more particularly to Australasia and tbe Pud lie, have been classified and arranged in the cases aud several thousands of cards for these books have been written, with main and crotw references to facilitate ready consultation by-students and others who may use the library. Kor η largo projiortioii of thpse books there were no cania in the catalogue cabinets used by the late Mr. TurnbtilL and even where the cards existed tlie details given thereon have had to be supplemented by class i Mention and locality marks. A large collection of New Zealand newspapers have been care- fully collated and prepared for binding.

WORK KEMAININQ TO BE DONE. It. ¡B desirable that some details should be given on the work remaining to be done before the librarv can be opened (or the use of students aud the public generally. In addition to completing a detailed card catalogue of the bound volumes, the immense collection of ma;», charts, prints, engravings, and photographs—tho exact number of which has not yet been ascertained—must be properly chmsified and arranged by subject, chronology, &c. Many thousands of unbound bookn. |iaiii|ihlcts. and le allele of varying character, ut priment roughly asm-mliled in no N|ieeial order of subject or date, have yet. to be examined, classified, catalogued, and accessioned, fiivvious U< being bound into volumes as may be found desirable. The library also contains a large, col lection oí i uteres tint; and most vuliuibli; iiiuuii8uri|tln ami aillouiajined luttera by Australasian and British authors. Thi-sc will roquirc to lie arranged verv carefully upon a well-ordered plan of classification. All this will take u considerable time to carry out. Tnii Li B n AH γ AND THE P'JBMC. Much internet and curiosity must naturally attach as to the probable date upon which it may be found possible to open the library to the public. Recognizing that fur the purposes of hietoricul research the secliim including New Zealand and Australian history, topography, &c, will he more specially uncfnl to Hludents, tho Librarian is at present confining his attention to pushing on with the classification, cataloguing, and arrangement on the shelves οΓ that- particular portion of the collection, lie hope* that tin! New Zealand and Australian section (including works on the Pacific generally) will be available for reference purposes by students and the public by the end of the year, but at present it is inipotwibh' to specify the probable date of the opening. This section may be roughly estimated nt 10.0m) volumes, of which, when the library opens, α scientifically detailed and verv useful catalogue should he ready for use. With regard to the remainder of the collection, it would be unwisn to fix any date upon which it is likely to be made fully available for reference purposes, but, speaking generally, the librarv as α wlmle caunot. well be. classified completely and arranged under two veers. Once, however, the first sect-ion i« ready for use by the public there need be no objection to visitors being admitted lo the librarv and reading any works the library is known to contain, although it may be found ueccHsarv to place a temporary " taboo " or reserve, on the particular clans which in undergoing examination or being caUihiirucd. Once one section is open lo the public the work of cataloguing the remainder of the collection will probably be slower lhun at present, as the attention required to be aiveji to students and visitors will trench upon the time of the assistants to some appreciable extent.

SAFEGUARDS AGAINST FIRE. Structural alterations have been found necessary to the building in order lo ensure proper safe- guards againnt fire, and are now being proceeded with.

FUTURE PURCHASES. With regard to the future acquisition ol books,

for reference information in New Zealand, few proper published reference sources, and an increasing pressure on a small stock of published books in our libraries However, improved biliographic control and technology make it possible to copy and transmit library materials widely Our national documentary heritage is widely dispersed among many institutions, all of which need to cooperate in the national interest And looming over everything is the spectre of decay and destruction of records on unstable papers

On the basis of this analysis, we are slowly moving the Turnbull, while respecting the intentions of the National Library Act, away from a reference and research library which exploited its total collections of documentary evidence as if they were replac- eable reference resources We are moving towards a research library dedicated to preserving the documentary evidence it contains, to serving research workers, and to acting as a resource library for the reference services provided by other libraries

This is a modification of the traditional role of a research library - the strong emphasis on acting as a resource library for the services of other libraries is new - but a modification which I believe is appropriate to our New Zealand environment A pure research library, on the European model, seeking self-sufficiency, guarding its treasures tightly, and intent on attracting to itself a small band of scholars committed to the creation of ne knowledge would be inappropriate in New Zealand today, and for many years to come. The research and resource library is in the business of building rsearch collections (by definition, a research collection is a comprehensive colle- ction), maintaining these collections long-term in as good a condition as possible, both as evidence for research and as the master copies for microfilm or electronic reproduction, encouraging the use of these comprehensive collections to create bibliographies, indexes, and reference works for other libraries to use in their reference work, and working with other institutions containing elements of the national documentary heritage in partnerships

I can tell you about some of the policies we have developed to enable the Turnbull to play the role of a research and reference resource library To reduce the pressures on the Turnbull's preserved New Zealand collections, and to free the Turnbull from the growing New Zealand reference load, it is proposed to open a reference library on the ground floor of the National Library building with an open access New Zealand reference collection for browsing We plan to duplicate most of the Turnbull-created reference indexes and to make them available on the ground floor The Turnbull will in due course create other reference-type services for the ground floor reference section, and we would like to be able to make copies for sale to other libraries providing New Zealand references services

We are moving away from the creation of indexes tied to our own collections, ones that can only be used in the Turnbull, to what we are calling "portable" indexes, opes which can be published, sold, and used in other libraries Some examples are our indexes to the Listener and Building Progress When these are published, we hope to offer the periodical itself in a microform edition, to help strengthen reference services in other libraries We also have a similar plan for the Triad, an index and a microform edition of the periodical itself

We are investing more time and money in bibliographies of printed materials to open up national resources A good example is Patricia Sargison's victoria's Furthest Daughters published last year, and a major project to produce a two-volume bibliography of New Zealand natural history, compiled by Dr Marshall Laird These bibliographies will list resources which are available from other libraries

We propose to use our research funds, when we can build them up to the right level, to provide more encouragement to authors and publishers to produce New Zealand refere- nce books to fill the many gaps

We are using our research funds and our endowments to publish or assist others to publish important primary documents - the Boultbee journal, the Buck-Ngata letters, the Early Eyewitness Accounts of Maori Life - to make them available in other libraries

We are looking on proposals for the facsimile publication in microform of signifi- cant areas of our collections The first step is to create a bibliography as the 40

Elx ha & paid to the GIURFIIAN A*0Ura»» CAMPANO HILLLITTO. of Undon, the Sum of ϊβυηΐβ thirteen sftlIIlaEa m&d f=ur Fer.=e £tz.

> being tbe Premium OD the turn insured by this Policy from tbe eighth day 0f F ecru AT ν (jne thousand nine hundred FC and asvsr.taer. to the

On Euililna- nitua-ta Eû«n Street. Wellington, oecupiei by \.\x. A. H. Turnbull aa A Dwelling cr.ly, brlok built, elite rocfei, detached 7 feet on Seat elle ar.i over 13 feet cn EiBt tide.

Ir. lieu of Pilielee See. Ί711Ε27 Λι· Ιβ/5/1917 ^711795 ¿3000 Cue 18/11/1917·

am HI BKHÍS W κ-ι ana η « n» -

JlOto br if ttnonin tbnt from the eighth Í!yr 0[ [February (Jne tboumnd nine hundred and "«ventean unt¡, day of February- One tbonaand nine hundred and eighteen *t Four o'clock in tbe Evening of that day and for so long afterward* ait the ssiil Amnred hie Heirs, Executors, or Administrators ahull from time to time pay or eauao to be paid the euma required for the renewal of this Policy, and the Directum uf the asid Comjteoy almll agnic thereto by accepting Üie jame, the Funds ami Property of tbe aaid Company shall be subject ami liable to pay, reinstate, or make gotfd to tbe mid Aiaiired hla Heirs, Eaecutors, or Administrators, such Loan or Damage «κ «hall bo occasioned by Fire or Lightning to I Property aboce mentioned and hereby insured, but nut exceedingr ¡1in each case respectJTely the aum or suma hereinbeforeΒ sererollaeren" y specified and • t each Property.

LLROBÜTRB ELBIAVE that this Insurance shall at all times and under all circumstances be subject to the partie ultra in the Proposal for this Insurance (which shall in all eanea be deemed to be inserted or furnished by the Amu red), and to the Conditions and Stipulations hereinbefore contained and to tho Conditions and Stipulations printed on the back hereof, which Proposal, Conditions, and Stipulations constitute the1 buis of this Insurance, and ore to be considered sa nieront to sad incorporated in and forming part of this Policy. I

ÏIÏ SBTTNCFLFL TOÛERROT the undersigned J«¡ee i:M,=i;rtoah being duly authorised by the Directors of the said Company, sod on behalf oE the said Company has hereunto set bis hand at Wellington, II.Ζ. t«ar.ty-flra,t day of February 1917.

NAN AGJUIRAI ^er-ftwsr of Attanujr.

Kty* Ths Inrared should tor his own protection < ι the Policy in order to Tartly ths comcutess of the dsacrlption of the Property Insured.

IA 75/1: National Archives, Wellington 41

control, then to film the items listed The first project is a microfiche edition of printed Maori up to 1960 In due course we propose to publish a microfiche edition of all the items in volume 1 of Bagnall, to give every New Zealand library a complete set of the basic printed documents of our history up to 1889

We plan, government willing, to strengthen the Manuscripts Section to enable it to play the role envisaged by Wilfred Smith in his Archives m New Zealand report of 1978 We tried in 1979 and 1980, but "compensatory savings" was an obstacle we were unable to overcome Smith's recommendation was the Turnbull "should have a national role in regard to non-public archives similar to that of the National Archives in regard to public records With such national responsibilities it could provide field officers who would advance and assist small repositories in the country in regard to non-public records and manuscripts arid direct such materials to the appropriate repository in the manner that field officers of the National Archives will do in respect to public records"

In these ways we hope to achieve two major objectives - to create and preserve a collection of documentary evidence for research, now and in the future, and to streng- then the ability of New Zealand libraries to provide a New Zealand reference service to meet the needs of all It will take time, it will be expensive, but we shouldn't settle for less

J Ε Traue Alexander Turnbull Library

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF THE LAND AND DEEDS OFFICE

The function of the Land and Deeds Division of the Department of Justice is to provide a system whereby the ownership of land can be legally evidenced and under which dealings with it can be effected and recorded

Even from the earliest days of its colonisation offices have existed in New Zealand for the registration of instruments affecting land, and the Land and Deeds Division, of which these offices were the origin - has been in operation now for some 143 years The first Deeds Registry Office opened for business in Auckland on 15 August 1842 The setting up of these Register offices was authorised by the Deeds Registration Ordinance of 1841 - the preamble of this Act stating that it was "for the purpose of rendering titles to real property more secure and facilitating the transfer of the same" The ordinance provided that there was to be a Register office in every district with Registrars - appointed by the Governor - for each office and it provided that every Crown Grant and practically all kinds of deeds could be registered Registration was effected by the presentation of the deed to the Register Office where it was indexed and copied into record books kept for the purpose

This Land Registration Ordinance later became the Deeds Registration Act 1868, which in its turn was consolidated by the Deeds Registration Act 1908 which is still currently in force

The original function of the Land and Deeds Department, once a department of State in its own right but now one of the many divisions comprising the Department of Justice, has been extended by successive Governments and it has been made the instrument by which the policy of the Government in certain important matters is carried out Today the Land and Deeds Division is responsible for the administering of a large number of statutes and an equally large number have some bearing on Land Transfer work An example of some of these include, Land Transfer Act 1952, Joint Family Homes Act 1964, Unit Titles Act 1972, Local Government Act 1974, Public Works Act 1981, Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952, Property Law Act 1952, Maori Affairs Act 1953 42

As a large body of case law has grown up around these statutes present-day Registrars are concerned with more matters than the mere passing or conferring of title to land - in other words officers of the Land and Deeds Division are required to have more than a knowledge of normal conaveyancing

INTRODUCTION OF THE TORRENS SYSTEM OF LAND REGISTRATION TO NEW ZEALAND

The Deeds Registration Ordinance of 1841 which introduced a system of registration of deeds affecting title to land had many unsatisfactory features It was uncertain and complex, and it was expensive - as the complexity of title increased, so too did the expense for the client The system necessitated employing the services of an experienced solicitor who would trace back the various dealings by which ownership had finally vested in the present owner It often entailed searching through wills, settlements, conveyances and mortgages back to the original Crown Grant Title to land was obtained by an instrument called a Conveyance which in simple terms was a document carrying the interest in land from one person to another Every time a piece of land was dealt with each step in the devolution of the title had to be scrutinised and each new dealing in turn became even more complicated than the earlier one No man could confer a better title than he had, so that if one of the deeds was defective or invalid, the title was impeachable however many subsequent conveyances or other dealings had been made Considerable expense to the client arose from these tedious and drawn out searches of the deeds and also, as the system became progressively more complex, the amount of time a solicitor spent on establishing a good title increased, as he himself was responsible for any defects m his client's title

So it was in this background of uncertainty that steps were taken to resolve many of the unsatisfactory features of the old system The first move in this direction was made by the passing of the Land Registry Act of 1860 which attempted to find an adequate system of titles records, and recognised for the first time in New Zealand, the modern principle of registration of title to land, as distinguished from the registra- tion of deeds and other instruments constituting title to land However, defects in this legislation led to its failure and it was not until the passing of the 1870 Land Transfer Act that any effective and progressive measures were seen The 1870 Act was based on the ideas of Robert Torrens in South Australia who devised a system of the registration of title to land on the registration of title to ships under the Merchant and Shipping Acts This system dispelled any need to investigate the title step by step to the original owner The "Torrens System" after its formation in South Australia, was subsequently adopted by all other Australian States and by many countries now comprising part of the British Commonwealth

In the 1870 Land Transfer Act, land registration districts were proclaimed through- out New Zealand and registration commenced in all districts during 1871 The institu- tion of a system of district registries in New Zealand was one of the few major depar- tures from the South Australian Act Today Land Registry Offices are found in all of the major provinces in New Zealand with offices in the larger cities These are, North Auckland(Auckland), South Auckland (Hamilton), Taranaki (New Plymouth), Hawkes Bay (Napier), Gisborne, Wellington, Marlborough (Blenheim), Nelson, Westland (Hokitika), Canterbury (Christchurch), Otago (Dunedin) and Southland (Invercargill)

Some of the fundamental principles of the system introduced by Robert Torrens are

ι That it should not be necessary to examine the history of a registered proprietor's title It is by the registration of the instrument under which he claims that a person acquires a legal interest in the land Until registration he has only an equitable interest Furthermore, it is 'the time of actual registration which determines the priority of competing interests in land, and not the date of the instrument itself

2 The estate of the registered proprietor is paramount and is protected by the Land Transfer Act unless he has been a party to fraud

3 The register should be a complete and accurate record of all the current facts which are material to the title to each parcel of land

4 Title to land and estates and interests should depend upon State-guaranteed registration and not upon instruments between parties 43

5 No notice of any trust may be made on a Land Transfer title Any prospective purchaser or mortagee may confidently deal with the registered proprietor - there being no necessity to enquire whether the registered proprietor is a trustee or whether he is acting in breach of trust, or to even enquire into the circumstances in which the registered proprietor acquired his title In the absence of fraud, registration confers a good title on a purchaser

SEARCHING A TITLE

In New Zealand today searches of Land Transfer titles are carried out by a variety of different parties and organisations These range from solicitors' law clerks and legal executives, to local bodies, surveyors, property developers, land agents and to the private individual

An important but not essential step in the process of searching a title is to locate one's certificate of title reference Certificates of Title issued from the Land Registry Office take many forms and the more common examples of these are, the owner's title for his estate in fee simple or freehold in possession, leasehold title, titles issued for the owner's share in a parcel of land, titles issued under the authority of the Unit Titles Act 1972, "Composite titles" with an amalgamation of a share in the freehold estate and an estate of leasehold in a flat and perhaps garage, titles issued for a life interest If a reference to a title is not in one's possession, it may be necessary to consult with one of the office's many aids for the location of a title reference These may be in the form of a lot and plan index, or a Parish index, or a survey district reference, a Maori Land index, or provision may be found in the plans and maps which go to make up the records of the Land Registry Maps of Auckland city split up into various districts can also provide an easy means to finding a title reference On the reference plans themselves, for the different parcels of land, there are plotted title references Reference may be also made to a selection of nominal indexes based on Valuation Department and local body records So if one is armed only with a street and house number or a person's surname, it would still be possible to ascertain a reference to a certificate of title The certificate of title gives a legal description of the land with reference to a deposited plan of survey and states the interest of the registered proprietor in the land e g Joe Bloggs of Auckland, Builder is seised of an estate in fee simple in all that parcel of land containing 2 hectares more or less being part Allotment 12, Section 2, Parish of Takapuna The reference to the Certificate of Title number is found at the top right-hand corner of the title On the opposite side reference is made to the prior certificate of title which is the reference to the land of which the present title was formerly part of Thus it is possible to trace through a title's history by searching through each prior title reference with the eventual conclusion and location of the original Crown Grant issued for the land References to land once held under the Deeds system are comprised in huge, weighty volumes all painstakenly handwritten These volumes are all part of the public record and are available for search during office hours

On the front of the certificate of title can be found a diagram of the land comp- rised in the title showing boundary distances either in the old Imperial measurement of links or in the metric system of metres Similarly an area of the land is given on the diagram corresponding to the area shown in the text of the legal description This can be referred to either in acres, roods and perches, or in hectares and decimals of a hectare or to square metres The more modern titles issued from Land Transfer offices have a copy of the plan of survey as deposited in the Land Transfer Office reduced to A4 size printed on the reverse side of the title A searcher may also find reference on the title he is searching, that it is "Limited as to parcels" or that it is "Limited as to Title" Registered proprietors with "Limited" titles do not have full protection of the Land Transfer Act A title "Limited as to Parcels" is issued when the plan of the land as shown on the title is not guaranteed as to the accuracy of any area or boundary measurements shown A re-survey of the land carried out by a registered surveyor and duly deposited in the Land Transfer Office is in most cases all that is required to remove this limitation A title that is endorsed with "Limited as to title" is an indication that there is some uncertainty as to whether the registered proprietor is entitled to the interest shown on the title The limitation may be removed after application has been made to the District Land Registrar

Beneath the Registrar or his assistant's signature are found all the registered estates or interests currently affecting the land in the title Because certain 44

dealings e g caveats, liens, Statutory Land Charges, Charging Orders, Land Income tax charges and the like are registered only against the original copy of the certifi- cate of title held by the Registrar (called the Register) it is essential that a search be made of that title (the Register) and a prospective purchaser should not rely on the duplicate of the title held by his vendor These lists of estates or interests are called memorials and are a precis of the actual operation or effect of an instrument registered against the land Among the memorials commonly found on titles are fencing covenants, Transfer, Mortgages, Leases, Easements, Caveats Each memorial will start with reference to an instrument's registered number and the type of instrument lodged e g 659283 Transfer of Β 129806 Mortgage The Land Registry office makes available for public searching all instruments (with one or two exceptions) registered in the office

The searcher has only to produce the number of the document by way of request, to an assistant in the office's document section, to have made available to him a copy of the original instrument as registered in the office and recorded on the certificate of title

TRANSFERS

A Memorandum of Transfer is the prescribed means of transferring an interest in land and of granting or reserving an easement e g a right of way or right to drain storm- water, over the land The Transfer must refer to the proper folium of the register and include a precise statement of the estate or interest intended to be transferred or granted or reserved This document once signed by the registered proprietor, presented to the stamp duty section of the Inland Revenue Department for payment of stamp duty may be presented for registration at the Land Registry office together with the dupli- cate of the certificate of title After registration, a memorial is entered on the original or register office copy and the duplicate of the certificate of title eviden- cing the nature of the transaction its registered number, and the date, time or hour of its presentation for registration The act of registration is the final stage in the completion of a conveyancing transaction and the documents acceptability is weighed up by officers of the department after careful perusal of all relevant statutes which may or may not affect its registration The entry of the memorial on the title constitutes registration of the instrument and the signing of the memorial by the Registrar together with the affixing of his seal is conclusive evidence of the regist- ration of the instrument

MORTGAGES

A mortgage of Land Transfer land is a charge on the interest of the mortgagor By executing a memorandum of mortgage over his land a mortgagor charges his land with pay- ment of the moneys borrowed and enters into a number of convenants with the mortgagee as for example the personal undertaking to repay the principal sum in the manner speci- fied in the document and to pay interest at the rate specified and on the dates agreed upon On registration in duplicate of the Memorandum of Mortgage, the mortgagee secures a legal charge on the land A Memorial of the mortgage is entered on the register and on the duplicate of the certificate of title, and upon the mortgage being repaid, further entry is made on the titles of a memorial of discharge This entry is stamped across the memorial of the mortgage A mortgagee secures certain rights by virtue of the registration of his mortgage He is entitled to the custody of the duplicate copy of the certificate of title and to any insurance policy, he can sue the mortgagor for arrears of principal and interest and he can enter and take posse- ssion of the mortgaged land following a default by the mortgagor after the exercise of his power of sale in the mortgage

CAVEATS

A caveat is a document designed to give notice of an equitable estate or interest in the land claimed by the caveator It prevents the registration of competing instru- ments until such time as it is withdrawn by the caveator or has lapsed or has been ordered removed by the High Court Fo>- example a person purchasing land under an agreement for sale and purchase can lodge a caveat to protect his interest and prevent the registration of dealings affecting the land intended to be purchased 45

GENERAL INFORMATION RELATING TO SEARCHING

The Land Registry Office is open for public searching of its records daily between the hours of 9 a m to 4 ρ m It is closed during weekends and public holidays The presentation of instruments for registration may be made at the office between 9am and 12 30 ρ m and 1 30 ρ m and 3 ρ m The Auckland office which contains all of the records comprised in the North Auckland Land Registration District is the largest in the country doing approximately one-third of the business The district runs from Cape Reinga in the North to Mercer in the South, and prior to 1960 also included the records for South Auckland (Hamilton, Rotorua, Tauranga)

The Auckland Office is found m the National Insurance Building in Victoria Street West where it occupies eight floors The searching records are spread between four floors with the Land Transfer title system housed on the 7th floor and the Deeds system, maps and plans and searching indexes found on the 8th floor The 5th and 6th floors are almost totally used up with the storage of documents available for public searching Although the office maintains an enquiry section it is not able to offer personal assis- tance to members of the public doing their own private research into perhaps the history of the land of which they are owners or establishing family trees with the research of land once held by their ancestors The present policy on staffing at Land and Deeds Offices does not allow any latitude for staff to be present and to assist on private searches as more often than not they are time-consuming and it is possible to spend many, many hours in a day tracing various pieces of land

Some of the aids available for public searching to provide a certificate of title reference are as follows

1 A nominal index for the Auckland area in general being a copy of the Department of Valuation's Database record This provides an alphabetical index of owners of land in the Auckland area, and supplies the owner's name, house number and street, legal description and in some cases, title references

2 A nominal index from the Valuation Department's Database broken up into Council or local body districts in the Auckland area, e g Auckland City Council, Birkenhead, Takapuna, Rodney, Manukau Council areas This record provides the owner's name, house number and street and legal description

3 An index from the Valuation Department's Database again broken up into Council or local body districts but this time supplying in alphabetical order all street names in the district with legal descriptions and owner's names

4 General maps of the Auckland city area, and North Auckland district providing in a system of grid references, a reference to a detailed map or plan of the land intended to be searched These detailed maps called (R plans or Record Plans), can provide a searcher with the title reference to a piece of land

5 A card index system for deposited plans is filed in numerical order providing title references for each lot on a plan as deposited in the Land Registry A copy of the plan may be inspected by requesting the aperture card of the same for use on a V D U unit There are also similar card index systems for Allotments in a Survey District, Town district or city area, and a parish index

6 The deeds system of record to land is a more complex system by far to search than the Land Transfer system The records available for public searching include,a nominal index, Deeds Index books, Deeds Record books, and Crown Grant books

Once a reference to a certificate of title has been located a copy of that title may be received from the general search room situated on the 7th floor of the building No fee is payable for this service

G Gaudin Land Transfer office Auckland 46

"PAKEHA-MAORI" - WRITING ABOUT FREDERICK EDWARD MANING1

Telling the story of a person's life may seem a straight-forward exercise - the putting together, in a literate way, of as much biographical information as can be found, in chronological order But good biography has more than that It reflects a familiarity on the writer's part with the social context in which the subject lived, and it should broaden a reader's understanding of that context At the same time biography requires particular insight into the personality and individuality of the subject Of course that leads to the problem of balancing these two themes - of life and times - and the big question of how much a life is shaped by social context, or the quirks of persona- lity There can be a problem too in deciding on what aspects of a person's activities should be concentrated on If the subject was, for example, a leading politician, literary or sporting achievements give the story its structure and point With someone like Frederick Edward Mamng, however, such approcaches are not so easy

What was Mamng most famous for7 The answer has to be his two books the 1862 war m the North and especially the semi-autobiographical old New Zealand published the following year Both have been reprinted many times and have acquired the status of early New Zealand literary classics But two relatively slight books published when the author was in his fifties does not seem justification enough for a full biography The real reason Mamng is worth study is simply the kind of life he led, some of which he made famous in old New Zealand but which would be worthy of study even if he had never written that book It was a life that spanned almost fifty years on the New Zealand frontier - from his arrival in 1833, his bicultural Pakeha-Maori life of the 1830, 40s and 50s, public opposition to Hobson in 1840, participation in the fighting against Hone Heke, his later political activity, his growing racism, and the years as one of the first judges of the new Maori Land Court

There are major difficulties, however, in writing about Mamng's early life in New Zealand, caused by the relative lack of sources upon which exploration of persona- lity depends There are a lot of Mamng letters in research institutions around the country but all bar a few were written after the early 1860s, preserved partly, presuma- bly, because of the new fame of their writer There are other sources from which one can trace Mamng's Life but much has to be conjecture through a study of his times In my case this research involved such sources as papers and letters of other northern settlers, missionaries and visitors, government letterbooks, files, reports and statistics, and contemporary newspapers The light such research threw on Hokianga social history was a major attraction of such a task for it helped illuminate times that are still rather shadowy in the history books But such an emphasis on the times always remained secondary to the aim of recontructing as much as possible of Mamng's early 1 îfe

It is some description of that research and its results that I aim to present here Despite the risk of oversimplification and generalization I want to give something of an overview of Mamng's whole life and, in doing so, evoke something of his personality and the times in which he lived I do concentrate on two aspects which I find particu- larly interesting but which in a fuller study would receive relatively less emphasis They are, the importance in Mamng's life of the social divisions of race and class, two basic criteria by which the world was divided in the thoughts and ideologies of nineteenth century white Anglo-Saxons In addition I include some brief discussion of the way Mamng's own presentation of his past in old New Zealand was shaped by his later preoccupations and prejudices

****************

Archives in Ireland and Tasmania reveal some hints to Mamng's background and youth He was born in 1811 or 1812 in Dublin, part of a moderately wealthy Anglo-Irish Protestant family In 1823 his father took advantage of the offer of generous land grants in Van Diemen's Land for men of sufficient capital and respectibility Mamng's adolescence, therefore, was spent in an environment very different from that of his childhood There were not the same opportunities in Van Diemen's Land for the formal education, regular chruch attendance, social graces he knew in Dublin It was a very physical life and it was in these years that he developed his love of outdoor activity, 47

skill with a rifle, ability as a wrestler and gained the size and strength that were always to distinguish him from most men But his social position relative to those around him remained much the same As a child he would have soon learnt to see him- self as quite distinct from the poorer less educated workers and peasants living in and around Dublin In Van Diemen's Land social inequalities were as marked, and overlaid with violence The island remained very much a prison farm Gaolers and gaoled still outnumbered free settlers Assigned convict labour formed part of the Mamng household

Exploitation was even more extreme in the relationship between European and Aborigine The Mamng family may have remained aloof from the genocide practised by some Europeans but the threat of Aborigine resistance in the 1820s did bring sympathy with common European assumptions of Aborigine inferiority and the right of Europeans to force them from their homelands In 1831 Mamng was part of the massive human chain which attempted to drive Aborigines out of the European areas

By the early 1830s the family had shifted int Hobart and were becoming comfortably established as part of the small new middle class of the colony Mamng, however, had left home to manage an isolated station in the north There he continued the rough life he was attracted to - but it was a position of some social status, gained through his family's social connections At the same time a new prospect emerged Australian merchants were beginning to realize the potential of the rich resources of timber, food and flax fibre on the New Zealand coast There seemed to be more profit and adventure here than was available in Van Diemen's Land and, in 1833, Mamng sailed for Hokianga He did not intend any permanent stay He made several trips back to Hobart and in 1837 left the river with probably no commitment to returning But he came back for good in 1839, presumably having decided that the comforts of a career in the family business was less to his taste that the wilds of Hokianga

His arrival in 1833 has been immortalized in the very funny, self-mocking opening chapters of old New Zealand Admidst discursive anecdote and consious confusion, Mamng recounted how he was welcomed and sized up by a Maori Chief (who was not named but who was Moetara of the Ngatikorokoro, the most powerful Chief and hapu on the lower river) He described how he disembarked

" in one of my best suits My frockcoat was I fancy 'the thing1, my waistcoat was the result of much and deep though, in cut, colour, and material my hat looked down criticism, and my whole turnout was such I calculated would 'astonish the natives', and cause awe and respect for myself individually and the British nation in general "

Such pretensions were, however, soon shattered when he was hoisted from the ship's boat onto the shoulders of a young Ngatikorokoro warrior The Maori's footing gave way and the two men crashed into the river Mamng angrily grabbed the culprit and dragged him under water before struggling to shore, where "one half of my coat hangs from my right elbow, the other from my left, a small shred of collar is till around my neck My hat, alas my hat is gone I am surrounded by a dense mob of natives', laughing, shouting and gesticulating in the most grotesque manner" The Maori sought to revenge his embarrasment and Mamng describes with relish the resulting fight and his own victory "There I stood transformed very considerably for the worse since I left the ship When my antagonist fell, the natives gave a great shout of triumph and congratulated me in their own way with the greatest goodwill I could see I had got their good opinion" The doubtful veracity of old New Zealand will be touched on later but there is enough other, indirect evidence to suggest that some such episode did take place and, as with much of his early life, there are no other more reliable sources

One of several messages in thos opening pages of Maning's book, of importance in understanding his life, is that Europeans had to adapt to survive - to discard some of those "straps and strings of civilisation" Unlike Van Diemen's Land the indigenous people of Hokianga, and New Zealand, were still very much in control of their enviro- ment Maoris were becoming increasingly dependant on goods only Europeans could provide and European contact was bringing change to Maori society But for Europeans economic success and survival depended on winning Maori goodwill It is a message that reflected Maning's experience in the thirty years since his arrival and the writing of his book 48

Despite the lack of Marling correspondence in this early period it is possible to build up some picture of Mamng's place in 1830s Hokianga society through a variety of sources Often these may only be a mention in a letter, or local census, or an account of some local event or development in which Mamng would have been involved but was not mentioned by name Particularly valuable is the well-known, now published, reminis- cence of Edward Markham, a young Englishman who spent an idle few months on the river in 1834 By that time Mamng had moved upriver from his original disembarkation at Pakanae to Kohukohu, then under the control of the Ihutae and their leading Chief Wharepapa Much of Markham's time was spent at Kohukohu as Mamng's tenant His' reminiscence, gives insights and hints into Mamng's rivalries and friendships with Europeans and Maoris, his involvement with Maori women, and his trade activities

Markham disliked Mamng very much "a low minded savage", "who had come out when a Child and knew no other Country than Van Diemansland his Ideas were as confined as the Country he had seen, he turned out, a double faced sneaking Thief", "Mamng would have done honor to the back woods of America", and so on One factor m that incompatibi- lity was that Mamng had prevented the plan of Markham and a partner to establish a trading station of Kohukohu Mamng had won over Wharepapa and gained the use of the area instead Ruthlessness in business dealings was to be a consistent trait Indeed Wharepapa was ultimately to feel betrayed also when Mamng sold up in 1837 For it is clear from the evidence given to the Old Land Claim Commissioner that Wharepapa had only given Mamng the use of the land not any European-style ownership

On his return in 1839, after eighteen months away, Mamng set himself up again in a different part of the river, at a place called Onoke at the southern mouth of the Whirinake tributory, in the territory of the Hikutu hapu He lived here for the next forty years and it was here, by 1842, that he had built the house that still stands at Onoke today It was at Onoke, in the 1840s, rather than during his earlier stay, that Mamng became most closely involved with the life of a Maori community The Hikutu were a strong hapu whose position versus rivals had been undermined since European contact because they wre not as able to gain access to the new Europeans and their goods Their territory had less timber and was less accessible to shipping A reputation for belligerence also detered traders Europeans residing in Hikutu territory in the 1830s are shadowy figures with little property or trade connections, men who fitted Mamng's description in old New Zealand of the "loose straggling pakeha - a runaway from a ship for instance, who had nothing, and was never likely to have anything, a vagrant traveller passing from place to place not worth a spike nail" Mamng on the other hand fitted his own description of the "good well to do pakehas to be honoured, cherished, caressed, protected, and plucked" He was to sometimes describe himself as "a New Zealand Chief" The Hikutu would never have seen him in such Maori terms but his role as one able to provide European goods and skills, his fluency in Maori, his impressive physical prowess, his willingness to enjoy Maori company and to adapt to some extent to Maori ways gave him influence

And his marriage into a leading Hikutu whanau consolidated his position He lived with Moengaroa She was the sister of his closest Maori friend, Hauraki, a man of about Mamng's age who was beginning to assert himself as a Chief Nothing much is known about Moengaroa Before she died in 1847 the couple had four children - Susan, Maria, Amina, Mary and Hereward Hauraki - whose birth drew Mamng further into the Hikutu community Morton Jones, a navy officer who visited the river in 1851, hinted at something of this with his disapproving comments on how Mamng's "rather numerous Maori relatives had free access to the house and looked upon it almost as much their own house as his" and on the children "running around in true Maori costume, bareheaded and barefooted as wild as young colts" In the 1840s at least Mamng accepted that his son might have a Maori rather than a European future - "he will never be anything but a New Zeaiander he is always among natives and probably as well off as he would be otherwise"

Most of old New Zealand is based on Mamng's experiences among the Hikutu in the 1840s and 1850s Several major episodes in the book can be documented from other sources The scene in which a tohunga calls up the spirit of Hauraki, killed in the war with Hone Heke, probably took place sometime in 1846 The tohunga was Omanaia- based leader Papahurihia The old Chief who appears several times in the book was Kaitoke, who lived near Mamna's house and regarded Onoke as his domain until well 49

into the 1850s The long description of a dispute that culminated in hand-to-hand combat with the "Maori ruffian" was based on a 1843 episode when a group of young turbulent Ngatihao from upriver, led by Wi Repa, sought to assert Ngatihao influence by harrassing the Europeans of their Hikutu rivals

At the same time as these ties with the Hikutu were being established a new colonial society was beginning in New Zealand Ultimately Mamng was to be drawn back into this European world He had never been isolated from European contact, even in the mid-1840s when economic depression and war saw many Europeans leave the river The friendships he did have with Europeans were influenced by those divisions of social class learnt in the old world and which were being recreated in the new His lifestyle, and athiesm, continued to alienate Mamng from the pillars of local respectability, the Wesleyan missionaries, but Mamng always regarded himself as a gentleman and his closest friends were always those who claimed similar status, men who themselves lived lives the missionaries were more approving of but who were prepared to forgive Mamng his rejection of such social pretensions John Webster was one such friend John Logan Campbell - one of Auckland's emerging commençai, political and social leaders - was another Many years later Campbell remembered Mamng as a "continuai feast of wit and fun, a wild man of the woods and ways civilized he abhorred"

Mamng was always to express contempt for "ways civilised" but he was slowly succumbing to them Renewed activity as a timber and gum merchant in the 1850s meant more frequent business trips to Auckland Friends like Webster and Campbell gave up bachelor lives for respectable marriage Mamng gradually came to conform more to the ways expected of a gentleman

Part of this process was the beginnings of attempts to distance himself socially from Hokianga Maoris The prejudices of someone like Maning's 1851 visitor, Morton Jones, began to have an effect Jones had recognised Mamng as a "gentleman by birth and education" and enjoyed Maning's company, but he was very disapproving of Maning's Maori associations He echoed the racial assumptions of the time in his comment that it was painful to see "a gentleman with all the attributes of independence, gentle birth and education lower himself to the level of semi-civilized beings" rather than those "who should be his companions and associates"

The beginnings of such change are difficult to document because of the lack of personal correspondence from the 1850s but by the 1860s it was well under way It is seen in the complete absence of any mention of Moengaroa in later letters to family and friends Maoris were no longer so welcome to Onoke (except as servants) He was seeking to teach his children European ways and to make sure that their Maori ties did not hinder his attempts to help them make their way in European society Such change brought tension contributing, I feel, towards the virulent racism, and ugly personal and family crises of later years ****************

Maning's emerging political attitudes reflect these changes There is no time to discuss here Maning's public opposition to Hobson at the Hokianga treaty signing, other than to say that his motives were materialistic, not idealistic Once government was established Mamng continued to be a consistent critic Surviving letters to his Van Diemen's Land family in the mid-1840s are full of complaints about "the horrible and disgusting reptile the tax gatherer", crown preemption, customs duties and any other apparent interference by government in his ability to make a profit

But on the other hand he, like many settlers, was also soon criticising the government for not doing enough in other areas, such as providing services and, particularly, enforcing European law on Maoris The turbulent activities of a Chief like Wi Repa, mentioned earlier, attracted him to the idea of a European form of social control, which have more protection to European profits and property This was a basic political stance reinforced by the experience of the northern war of 1844-46 another major episode in Maning's life that I pass over here That fighting brought alarm and insecurity It hindered trade Most importantly it brought a new apprehension that there might one day be a much stronger, more united Maori resistence to European expansion Mamng knew Maori and European interests were ultimately at odds, and that pro-government Maoris had fought for different ends than their Europeans allies, to 50

enhance or protect mana, not to impose a European authority These anxieties were lulled in the 1850s but were reawakened in the early 1860s when European land hunger brought war in Taranaki and the challenge of the King movement lead to the invasion of the Waikato in 1863 Mamng's solution, consistently expressed was authoritarian and militaristic For example

I am sorry to say I am convinced that peace will never be secure in this country till the country has passed through a fiery ordeal peace security and law must be preceded by a show of force to convince the natives they must submit This simply means a general and severe war accompanied by all the usual horrors until then we shall only fill the contemptible place we do now

Most, but not all, northern Maoris supported the government Mamng was ambivalent about that On one hand he sometimes stressed this loyalty and boasted of his role in securing it He offered to help form and lead a Ngapuhi war party to fight in the south But on the other hand, his old uneasiness resurfaced - that a war so obviously fought to enforce European supremacy might ultimately turn northern Maoris against the government In 1861 political changes further worried him Donald McLean was replaced as Native Secretary, and George Grey was appointed Governor The "new institutions" introduced in some Maori areas, as means to allay Maori discontent by giving them some limited participation in government machinery, were regarded by Mamng as dangerous experiments

I will mention another fartor fostering Mamng's resentment towards Maoris In the early 1860s he decided to retire from business but he found it impossible to get back debts owed him by Maoris in his employ Like other European traders Mamng had built up his business by encouraging Maori indebtedness - regularly paying foods out in advance in return for the seasonal work of dragging out timber or digging gum He now attempted to get back these debts, in labour or land Understandably, from the Maori point of view, there was little inducement to disrupt a pattern of near subsis- tence living to, labour, in effect, for no further payment while Mamng lived in comfortable retirement ****************

I now turn to old New Zealand, to make some brief points about that book as both a literary work and as a source for biography The book had a very different genesis to his first work, war m the North That book had been carefully composed over a long period The idea for oíd New Zealand only took shape a year or so prior to its publication, although it had origins in the stories with which he had long amused his friends and visitors It began initially as a commission for a series of sketches for the New Zealand Magazine but, Mamng wrote, "my pen would not stop until the book got too big to be spoiled by cutting up" When completed he described it to McLean as "ironical, satirical, semi political with lots of fun and many serious and striking scenes from old native life and habits" "On the whole", he said, "I think a good deal of it" 13

Mamng's description suggests something of old New Zealand's literary originality Haste in the writing partly explains the apparently chaotic structure But Mamng was quite capable of more careful composition Rather than order his reminiscences and discussions in orthodox fashion he chose to demonstrate his literary virtuosity through the artifice of affecting to be unable to control order of his subject It is a narrative device that was inspired in part by a reading of Laurence Sterne's eighteenth century classic Tristram shandy It is used to best effect in the opening chapters where Mamng, the narrator, professes ignorance of the "pakeha" or "right way to tell a story" and constantly wanders from his stated intention of describing his arrival in New Zealand into discursive anecdote and reflection It is not only racy and amusing It also serves to allow the introduction of other discussion of early race relations while effectively evoking the thought processes of a man in some anxiety about what awaited him on shore There are other affectations of ineptitude and other Shandean devices in later chapters The book abounds in humour There is frequent degeneration into gross caricature and melodrama but overall old New Zealand has an exuberance and descriptive richness that gives it a unique place in the history of New Zealand 1iterature 51

But the books reputation ever since its publication has come also from its value as a unique record of Maori life and race relations in the early nineteenth century It has been used frequently as a primary source in studies of the early contact period However, such use has to be made very critically old New Zealand is valuable but unreliable as a source for history, social anthropology or biography Mamng's recollections are distorted by the background of interracial crisis against which it was written Eric McCormick caught this aspect of the book well in his comments, written over forty years ago, on the way Mamng was concerned "to paint the high lights and low lights of savage light from a partisan point of view" and the way this was particularly evident in "the disproportionate emphasis placed .on warfare, an important but by no means all-absorbing part of the old order" Incidents such as unwanted involvement in the workings of muru or the description of the trespasses of Wi Repa were real events, which aroused real anxiety But in old New Zealand their destructive, violent aspects are exaggerated

Mamng's own comments make his political purpose clear He told McLean that his book "shows indirectly without ostensibly pretending to do so what sort of creature this Maori is who we have to deal with" and "how much the natives are enamoured of law and order" Other political points are made Contemporary preoccupation in settler circles with the difficulties of purchasing Maori land shape Mamng's account of his own land purchase

Mamng's literary skills further his themes Always his wittiest liveliest writing comes when he is able to illustrate his basic message of the incompatibility of "savage" and "civilised" European worlds through descriptions of his adventures Irony pervades the book, particularly the overriding irony of describing these years of apparent mayhem and bloodlust as "good old times", "those delectable days, now, alas1 passed and gone" But this irony is only partial There is also real nostalgia for a youthful, more adventurous, less conventional life and, as well, for a more accepting, friendly relationship with Hokianga Maoris

More skilful is the way Mamng uses the persona of the pakeha-Maori narrator Pakeha Maori was a term long in use on the river but it had received much wider currency with the publication of A S Thompson's story of New Zealand in 1859 Thompson had portrayed the pakeha-Maori as men who understood the Maori, who had promoted "peace and civilization" but who were themselves "civilized man turned into savage", men typically of lower class origins, poor education and lack of "mental occupation" Mamng did not see himself as in these terms but he adopted the narrative characteris- tics that he felt his readers understood by the term pakeha Maori He affects such characteristics, for example, in his pretence of being unable to tell a proper, European-style story It is an artifice used most effectively at the end of the book where Mamng pretends to be torn between loyalty to "my Maori tribe and also my pakeha countrymen" and in doing so effectively conveys both what he saw as the Maori attitiude to Europeans and their laws, and the way in which European supremacy should be enforced The narrator is "confused, I feel just as if I was two different persons at the same time" But Mamng was not The concluding sentence "Be brave, that you might live"' was intended as both warning and advice for European New Zealand

As a source for biography, therefore, old New Zealand presents problems It does, of course, provide important information but in it Mamng's presentation of the past is shaped by those contemporary prejudices and preoccupations outlined above All histories are subjective They always reflect values and assumptions In old New Zealand, the past is particularly coloured That in itself is revealing of Mamng's personality but a better understanding of both Mamng and his book requires knowledge of his early life and times revealed by other sources

****************

It is Mamng's later life, after the publication of old New Zealand, that is easiest to write about because of the relative abundance of sources, although these sources are nearly all European, not Maori ones I will sketch no more than bare outlines here He was able to gain some of the prestige he sought, and the means to look after the interests of those of his kind, with his appointment as a judge of the new Native Land Court His alienation from the Maori world intensified Anger at 52

any form of Maori resistance to European expansion m the south, or at any government policy he saw as failing to ensure European domination, was often virulent He had complete contempt for new Maori leaders in the north who entered parliament, or took the lead in the new protest movements emerging in 1870's Divisions of class as well as race became more important, and the two were, as previously, interconnected He was particularly contemptuous of those who frequented the new hotels and trading places as Rawene and who often maintained ties with Maori communities similar to those of his own past His only real friends were Webster and the Resident Magistrate, Spencer Von Sturmer - men who shared his social pretensions and racial and political attitudes

Isolation brought new paranoia manifested most dramatically in his relationship with his children Mary married a part-Maori Hotelkeeper who Mamng disapproved of Hauraki grew disillusioned with the career Mamng had prepared for him under McLean's supervision, got into debt and turned to more dishonest ways of making a living Mamng disowned him but on at least one occasion Hauraki returned to the river to shelter among his kin at Whirinake Maria left home also Susan, an invalid, remained but by the late 1870s Mamng was resenting her continued ties with Mary and Whirinake Maoris His leters reveal paranoia and nervous breakdown as he talked wildly of how the "half cast brood will not,leave off until they attempt my life" Finally, to escape the "accursed crew of Maoris and half casts", he abandoned Onoke for Auckland, where he spent his last years m relative contentment Even in these troubled times, however, his letters can still reveal flashs of the life and wit his friends found so attractive

I will make two concluding points There is still something of a popular percep- tion of Mamng as a man with particular affection for, and understanding of Maori life It is a perception that fits a little uneasily with what else is known about the man, and with some of the underlying messages of old new Zealand upon which popular knowledge of Mamng is based What has happened, I think, was that as the Maori threat to European interest declined, and as most Europeans became more distanced from any Maori contact the book contemporary political relevance was forgotten It came to be seen simply, as Hocken described it, as "charm^gg" and, "whimsical" as, "incomparable sketches of old native life and customs" That was an attitude occasionally surfacing in Maning's own time It irritated him and contributed to his tendency to disown the book One feels also, however, that the way the book has been received has reflected not only ignorance of, but also a certain taking for granted of its underlying prejudices

Writing about Maning's life is difficult And this is not just because of the limitations of the sources There is biographer's disillusion as well I was origi- nally attracted to the idea of studying him because of the image he has as a colourful, unique pioneer figure But, as others have found before me, the more one studies him the less attractive he becomes But whether one is attracted or repelled by such a person, or both, his life and times still make a fascinating study It is a story that helps throw light on aspects of the social history of race relations about which little is yet known

David C Colquhoun National Archives 53

REFERENCES

ι This paper descibes and discusses research which has, so far, led to an MA history thesis 'pakeha-Maori' the early life and times of Frederick Edward Mamng" Auckland 1984 Fuller documentation of points made in this paper can be obtained from this thesis

2 [F Ε Mamng] Old New Zealand, A tale of the Good Old Times by a pakeha-Maori (ONZ) Auckland 1863 page 12

3 ibid page 30

4 ibid page 33

5 Ε Markham, New Zealand or Recollections of it, ed Ε H McCormick, 1963, page 58, 59, 32

6 Old New Zealand page 18-19

7 F Ε Mamng to A Τ Mamng, 15 March 1845, Mamng Papers, MS 625, Alexander Turn- bull Library

8 Lieutenant M Jones, Journal, page 56, micro MS 220, Alexander Turnbull Library (original 1n Mitchell Library)

9 F Ε Mamng to A Τ Mamng, 3 March 1848

10 J L Campbell to A Turnbull, 1 May 1899, bound with Maori Traditions, Pam 1885, Alexander Turnbull Library

11 Jones, page 57

12 F Ε Mamng to D McLean, 20 June 1862, McLean papers, MS papers 32, folder 44, Alexander Turnbull Library

13 Mamng to McLean, 25 October 1862, loc at

14 EH McCormick, Letters and Art in New Zealand, Wellington 1940, page 81-84 is Mamng to McLean, 25 October 1862, loc at

16 Mamng to McLean, 29 October 1862, loc at

17 AS Thomson The Story of New Zealand Past and Present - Savage and Civilized

London 1859, I, 297-303 is Old New Zealand, page 230-31

19 ibid, page 232 20 F G Mamng to S Van Sturmer, 22 January 1880, q MS MAN, Alexander Turnbull Library

21 F Ε Mamng to J Webster, 28 August 1881, MS0, Hocken Library

22 F Ε Mamng, Old New Zealand, A Tale of the Good Old Times with a History of the War m the North of New Zealand against the Chief Heke m the year 1845 as told by an old Chief of the Ngapuhi Tribe, also Maori traditions. By a pakeha Maori Christchurch 1948, ed Τ M Hocken, page VII-XIV 54

AMBITION WITHOUT SUBSTANCE THE WAIKATO IMMIGRATION SCHEME

INTRODUCTION

To avoid misunderstanding about the scope of this paper, several points need to be noted at the beginning Firstly, the 'Waikato immigration scheme' was a particular enterprise that was distinct from other settlements in the Waikato such as the Waikato militia and military settlers (However, the records do include some families of Waikato soldiers who evidently used this scheme as a way of coming to the same region ) Secondly, the areas involved were largely outside the region today thought of as the Waikato (see figure 1)

BACKGROUND

The Waikato immigration scheme was part of an attempt by the General Government to bring large numbers of immigrants to the North Island It was felt that the establish- ment of European settlements would help to consolidate the Government's position after the Maori Wars, and facilitate the development of the regions involved, to the mutual advantage of the general and provincial governments The cost of such settlements would be recovered from the sale of neighbouring land

The Government originally intended to bring about 20,000 immigrants to the Waikato, recruiting them from the Cape Colony (South Africa), Britain and Ireland To finance this scheme and other government expenses, a £3 million loan was to be raised in London Immigrants would be recruited by the Auckland Provincial Government's agents acting on behalf of the General Government, plus other agents appointed for the purpose The immigrants would be settled on land available under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 - this was mainly confiscated land

Four main classes of immigrants were initially sought 'labourers', 'mechanics', small farmers, and capitalists The 'labourers' and 'mechanics' were to be offered free passages plus a land grant if they resided on that land for three years Exact conditions varied slightly between immigrants from the United Kingdom and immigrants from the Cape

A letter to the recruiting agent in Glasgow conveyed the government's intentions

It is believed that a large and judiciously selected addition to the present population, located in particular districts, will afford the best means of securing the peace of the Colony and the welfare of all classes of its inhabitants It is not an addition to any particular class that is required, but the establishment in certain districts of strong settlements, embracing all the elements conducive to make them prosperous To carry into effect the object which the Government of New Zealand has in view, a large sum of money, and some of the most fertile and favourably situated land in the Colony are available

There are Three Classes of persons who are required -

1 Mechanics, Labourers, & c 2 Smal1 Farmers 3 Capitalists

It is to the selection of Emigrants of the first two classes to which I am desirous you should give your attention

You will see that the main element of success lies in the care taken in the selec- tion of persons who are to occupy the land If those persons are the mere refuse of this country, or if they are to consist of those who can do no good for them- selves here, not only will the object of the Government not be attained, but a large influx of such persons will be positively mischievous On the other hand, 55 56

if people of good character, of active, industrious and temperate habits go out, there can be no doubt that not only will the condition of the Emigrants be bettered, but by their means, to a large extent, will the future peace and prosperity of the colony be secured They should consist principally of Brick- layers, Carpenters, Miners, Masons, Wheelwrights, Blacksmiths-m fact, Mechanics and Artisans of all kinds, together with the best class of Agricultural and Railway Labourers Persons who have been engaged in Manufactories, Shops, or Wharehouses, or who have been accustomed to sedentary occupations, are not likely to be very useful in a Colony circumstanced as New Zealand is, I do not say that in no case should such persons be allowed to go, for you may meet with individuals among some classes of the Manufacturing population who might make useful colonists, but, as a rule, I think it advisable they should not be sent

The comfort of the people on board ship should be carefully attended to, the scale of dietary should be liberal, a system of order and discipline for the voyage should be established, and the whole arrangements should be placed as much as possible under the control of an experienced Medical Man It is of great importance that the Emigrants should arrive in New Zealand satisfied that every care has been taken to secure their comfort and convenience during the voyage, whilst it would be much to be deplored if they had any good cause for dissatis- faction with the shipping arrangements, or had reason to think the Government had been careless and had neglected their interest

The Government was reluctant to promise to provide employment for the emigrants

The Government does not want to undertake, as a condition of settlement, to employ the Emigrants at specified works for a definite period there will be no lack of employment, as public works on a considerable scale, road making especially, will be undertaken by the Government in districts where settlers are located, and until work is available in the ordinary course of country industrial occupations, the surplus labour of the districts will be employed on such works The Public Works must not be looked upon as a constant resource, they may be fully relied on, in the first instance, to secure to the settlers a fair start, but they mustnot be trusted to as a means of permanent subsistence For this the Emigrant must look to his own energy, to his Land, and to the employment which the ordinary business of the settlement will afford

Small farmers were expected to pay their own passage but would receive a 50-arce land order per adult if they stayed for three years The capitalists would be attracted by the large areas of land avilable for purchase and would therefore come and provide supplementary employment for the other immigrants

By October 1864, the recruiting agents were reporting the successful departure of ships They looked forward to sending more immigrants in the coming months Their enthusiasm, however, was not matched by the London money market The New Zealand Loan failed, so there was no money available to continue the scheme Moreover, there was as yet little land available At the end of October 1864, the agents were instructed to suspend all operations until further notice About 2000 immigrants altogether would now arrive from the United Kingdom, and 1000 from the Cape of Good Hope

The General Government wanted the Auckland Provincial Government to take over responsibility for the scheme and the immigrants For several months, the Auckland Superintendent (who had agreed to administer the scheme on the General Government's behalf, not as a Provincial responsibility) and the Colonial Secretary exchanged claims and counter-claims against each other Responsibility eventually passed to the newly- appointed Agent for the General Government in Auckland, and then to the Provincial Government

Meanwhile, the conditions experienced by the first immigrants to arrive were described by the immigration agent in a letter to the Colonial Secretary

I have the honour to submit the following report upon the location of the Immigrants from the Cape of Good Hope, on the North Shore 57

I went on board the 'Steinwarder,1 the vessel in which the Immigrants arrived, and ascertained that their numbers and ages were correct, saw them landed with all convenient despatch, and housed in the iron building on the North Shore, which was formerly erected for the Maori Prisoners

This building required great alteration in order to render it suitable for the accommodation of so many persons Various improvements are now being carried out as rapidly as possible by the Immigrants, who receive an equivalent for their labour

The wash-house is nearly completed, the cook-house is finished, two water-closets are in course of erection, and the difficulty in procuring an adequate supply of water for the building is now overcome Nine tanks have been placed at appropriate spots round the building and a well has also been sunk which will yield an abundant supply for all purposes

The daily inconvenience of landing stores upon the beach, and the expense of having them carried up to the store room, have suggested the necessity for a small jetty being run out, the work is commenced, and will be finished in a few days

The great difficulty in getting stores and materials across from Auckland has been the chief cause of delay in rendering the premises suitable for the present occupants

With regard to the Immigrants themselves, I consider them as a body, a most orderly and well-behaved community, and one that will prove invaluable to this Colony Most of them have had from three to five years' experience of colonial life in the Cape of Good Hope, or other parts of Her Majesty's colonies

They appear to desire unanimously to get upon their land, and judging from the multifarious trades amongst them I should say that a settlement composed of such men could not fail to benefit both the Government and the Immigrants themselves, provided means of existing were furnished them, as some arrived here penniless, and to these land would be utterly useless, unless pecuniary assistance were added 4

It was up to six months after the immigrants arrived at Auckland that they were located on their land allotments in the Waikato In the interim they were at the North Shore on Onehunga immigration barracks, and then in tents on town sections in the Waikato while their suburban sections were being surveyed They were given employment on public works, but there was little money available even for these, and the Government tried to stop the payments from the end of April 1865 Protests by the Superintendent, plus consideration of the mutinous spirit of the immigrants and the likely results of impoverished immigrants moving into Auckland, led to the restoration of ration payments

Some of the immigrants gave up their land and quit the region, and sometimes the colony, but most stayed and claimed their Crown grants three years later

RECORDS OF THE SCHEME

The archives described in this paper are held at the National Archives Regional office in Auckland They constitute part of the archives from the Auckland office of the Department of Lands and Survey

A more detailed leaflet about the records has been produced by National Archives It may be obtained from National Archives' offices in Auckland and Wellington This leaflet includes charts that summarise the types of information available from the different records

One example may illustrate some of what is available (Figure 2 ) The register of applications for Crown grants summarises much of the information about individual settlers, and has a nominal index It also links in with other records that may give, for instance, details of families, or more information about land grants This APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS | FO R WAIKATO IMMIGRANTS.

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particular volume is probably the single most important record of the scheme, as it links the immigration procedures with the allocation of sections and contingent lands and the eventual issue of Crown grants It is also clearly set out, with labelled columns, and is therefore less difficult to use than some of the other records may be

In addition to the records held by National Archives, three passenger lists from the scheme are held by the Auckland Public Library They duplicate information given in the register of immigrants (LS-A [84] A41 vol 40) and are for the ships "Helenslee", "Viola", and "Resolute" Their manuscripts reference is N2MS 70

CONCLUSION

The Waikato immigration scheme warrants further study, perhaps as a thesis topic It offers insight into the relationship between the general government and the Auckland provincial government, between the provincial superintendent and the provincial council, and between the politicians and the public servants trying to implement the decisions

The surviving records also constitute a rich source for family historians, local researchers, and others who might be interested in the individual immigrants and settlements involved My research has been limited to a general understanding of the records and their background, but much more might yet be done

Cheryl Y Campbell National Archives

REFERENCES

1 Wood to Clark, 2 June 1864, cit AJÍ,R, 1864, D3, ρ 8

2 Ibid

3 This wrangling and the developments behind it may be followed in AJHR, 1865, D2, D2A, and D3

4 Eaton to Colonial Secretary, November 1864, cit AJHR, 1864, D3, ρ 22 60

Appendix SHIPS OF THE WAIKATO IMMIGRATION SCHEME

Ship Departed Arrived Auckland

Alfred Cape of Good Hope, 27 Sep 1864 18 Nov 1864

Bombay London, Nov/Dec 1864 18 Mar 1865

Dauntless Kingstown, Cork, c 29 Dec 1864 15 May 1865

Eveline Cape of Good Hope, Dec 1864 22 Jan 1865

Ganges Queenstown, Cork, 4 Nov 1864 14 Feb 1865

Helenslee Glasgow, 10 Sep 1864 23 Dec 1864

Lancashire Witch London, 11 Feb 1865 3 Jun 1865

Maori Cape of Good Hope, 8 Nov 1864 23 Dec 1864

Matoaka London, 17 Sep 1864 3 Jan 1865

Reiherstieg Cape of Good Hope (Reihersteig) 26 Oct 1864 24 Dec 1864

Resolute Glasgow, c 14 Mar 1865 24 Jun 1865

Steinwaerder Cape of Good Hope, 17 Aug 1864 18 Oct 1864

Viola Glasgow, 7 Oec 1864 4 Aor 1865

NOTE The departure dates are approximate only, gleaned from AJHR references, registers of Colonial Secretary's inwards correspondence, and Nona Morris, Early Days m Franklin, Auckland, 19bb The arrival dates are more reliable, but there is sometimes evidence for conflicting dates for these also 61

NGA IWI 0 TAITOKERAU- SOURCES FOR NORTHERN MAORI HISTORY

I want to take the records which we are concerned with in this session out of their archival wrappers and put them in the context of people and speech And I want to talk of the documents which contribute to Maori history and traditional knowledge in the light of the orality of Maori society, that is, the preference in almost all situations for spoken communication This focus in my paper stems from two main sources The first is oral and of many authors, it is what I have heard and learnt about nga taonga ι tutu iho (the inheritance of knowledge and articles from the ancestors) in company with Maori people, listening to whaikorero (formal speeches) and korero (discussions), and in conversation Ideas from this apprenticeship can be summed up in the whakatauki (sayings) "kia mau ki te kupu a tou matua" (Hold to your elder's words) and m "ko te kai a te rangatira he korero" (The food of chiefs is speech) Although in translation these may sound simple edicts, used in the oral traditions they come to express much wider concepts of respect for knowledge passed down and the value of speech My acquaintance with the oral traditions does not mean that I express a Maori viewpoint, but I hope that talking about it will hasten the long overdue inclusion of Maori opinion in decision making on Maori archives

The second source of my ideas in in print and of one author it is an article by Professor Don McKenzie entitled "The Sociology of a Text Orality, Literacy and Print in Early New Zealand" McKenzie proposes the bibliographer's study as fundamentally "the sociology of texts", that is, the taking into account of all the circumstances of a text's creation Included in those circumstances are orality and literacy as " human conditions whose shaping force on the form and efficacy of 'texts' we cannot ignore" (p 334) The issues of his article seem to me to be equally significant for the archivist Putting his argument to the test on the Treaty of Waitangi document, Professor McKenzie concludes "For the Maori the 'text' was the consensus arrived at through discussion, something much more comprehensive than the base document or any one of its extant versions" (p 363) I suggest that we view our documentary sources for Maori history as adjuncts to speech and as "something much more comprehen- sive" than the manuscript or book text we have m our care

I have come to describe how the Department of Maori Affairs in Whangarei works as an archive, the historical research we have underway and the materials in the Depart- ment which are useful for it I make a point of the subject and sources of the history (which I define simply as description of the past) in my title "Nga Iwi o Taitokerau" Nga iwi, the peoples or tribes, create the history by their lives and narrate and re-create it constantly in their speech, particularly on the marae, they are therefore its source The people of whom I speak are names in five principal iwi. Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri, Ngati Kahu, Ngapuhi, and Ngati Whatua, and in numerous hapu (sub-tribes) Their land bases lie within the area known as Taitokerau, which has boundaries described in Maori as "mai i te awa o Tamaki tae noa ki Te Rerenga Wairua" (from the Tamaki river to the Leaping [Place] of the Spirits) In these areas and amongst these peoples, the events have occurred and still occur which are recorded in their own rich store of varied forms of torero(spoken, sung and chanted accounts) These are the people with whom our research and sources are concerned The ideas which underlie our approach to this work and by which we attempt to recognise the application of the wirtten record to the oral account are, I think, important for us to consider here

The peoples of Taitokerau and their oral record are the primary sources, the oral archives, if you like The papers, of book or manuscript, which may describe their Maori life, and which are also your professional concern, are, I believe, still regarded by Maori people as the secondary sources This is not to undervalue your role or the importance of the documents you keep, but I think that when we, as pakeha, deal with Maori topics and texts, we need to jolt ourselves out of our preoccupation with writing and print Fori all too easily we assume the document as evidence, and its fixing in print as final Because of its oral context the archivist will find the Maori text all the more elusive to ascribe to categories and conventions which are sensible for the written'1iterature An acknowledgement of the continued orality in Maori society will, I suggest, revitalize your appreciation of Maori materials and 62

the way you supply them for use There is no doubt that these supplementary written sources are a welcome support to Maori people now as they restore what has been lost of the oral literature, and as they increase the recording of their traditional knowledge on tape, in print and by film

Archivists pay attention to the identification and arrangement of the physical text and the issue of it to researchers In meeting both demands for Maori materials, recognition of the pervasiveness of the oral culture will bring understanding too of what the documents are part of To view the written sources as separate documents, isolated from their forum for speech, is to diminish their potentional usefulness, and moveover, their liveliness Manuscripts and paper records are part of a cycle of inherited taonga, an intimate and individual cycle which defines land, people and event The document as part of that cycle is only productive in it The physical and intellectual separation of Maori taonga from their tribal cycles of korero is a result of the dislocation of Maori society by the larger pakeha culture

When we separate taonga from their cycle of source, or environment of origin, we invite misunderstanding Let us take, for example, Maori carving, which, along with the material culture generally, has been far more acclaimed, displayed and cared for by our national institutions than the taonga of speech, either those in oral perfor- mance or on paper as literature This has perhaps been the case because we, as pakeha, have looked at the carvings and believed we could make sense of them, recognising at least their artistic and aesthetic merits, the language and the korero has not been taken seriously as part of them We have turned away from the written account and the oral arts because we cannot understand anything of them without the language, and even if we have learnt the language we have often presumed to understand the text alone In both cases, I believe, we have been too hasty and as a result we have not done justice to these artefacts of language and craft

The carvings cannot be understood properly without the korero (the accompanying narrative or explanation) and even if you have some knowledge of the language, the text, written or oral, will rarely be completely comprehensible without knowing the people to whom it belongs - their whakapapa (genealogy) and their particular social history Just as we should not assume an understanding of a carving without reference to the people from whom it comes, so we should not presume to understand and present our manuscript texts in isolation from the human and oral context which produced them, or in which they will be used in future This is made clear in both my sources for this paper Firstly, in saying which emphasises the vital connection of language, land and human existence "Toi te kupu, toi te whenua, toi te mana" (With the language retained, land retained, and prestige retained [Maoritanga will survive]), and secondly, in Professor McKenzie's advice about the book, and which applies equally to any text, that we should acknowledge that " the physical book as a whole is a rich complex of signs, each of which has its own human history and all of which unite to create the 'finished' book as a palpably articulated text" (p 334)

Perhaps I can exemplify the points I have introduced here by describing our research work in Whangarei, what our sources are and what we see as the primary use for them In April this year a research programme was initiated with the two main objectives of promoting the survival of the spoken language and the preservation of the traditional cultural knowledge and literature relating to the Taitokerau peoples, the two objectives are inextricably linked We set out to achieve these goals by recording the oral evidence of the elders and by gathering the manuscript and printed literature for publication, so that both sources can be returned to the oral arena, and for the revival of all the cultural arts of each tribal group in the region For the oral arts this revival counter-balances the weighting in favour of English and writing which has devalued the verbal skills

In bringing back to the open context of speech that part of the cultural knowledge which has in a sense been hidden in writing and print we utilize the most effective methods of preservation and transmission of information Elders' knowldge is to be recorded on tape and transcribed, the traditional literature now widely dispersed in manuscript and print is to be prepared for publication, film will be used to record cultural events in the region Memory, once the only repository, has now a secondary role in retention of information, although in the performance of the oral arts it is 63

still paramount - you don't give whaikorero or sing uaiata (song-poems) with notes in front of you The main point of our recording by these various means is, however, for the data to be used in the composition and performance of whaikorero, waiata, haka, and other korero forms, and also in the verbal instruction for craft like whakairo (carving), tukutuku (ornamental lattice-work), and raranga harakeke (flax weaving), in other words, for the people to have the resources to be the oral sources

The written records which are kept in the Department and which aid our research are good examples of the oral and 1iterary dichotomy in our two cultures They come in the form of manuscripts, the books and writing deriving from the Maori Land Court and the content from the traditional knowledge passed on orally by the ancestors Many of you will know of the Court minute books The Native Land Court was working by 1865 to authorise the assigning of European title to Maori land It provided a forum where claimants to a defined area of land could state and debate their reasons for being included on the title of ownership Decisions between opposing parties were made by the Judge on the basis of the oral evidence which was minuted during the Court session In the course of these claims, owners recited the history of people and events on the land which verified, according to traditional Maori custom, their right to the land (This is merely an overview of the Court's role and not a comment on its effect or efficiency It is, however, interesting to consider here the discrepancy between the oral records of rights which were declaimed in Court and the physical text of the European title affirmed on paper ) A claim usually included naming renowned ancestors and giving family whakapapa, citing hapu affiliation and home sites, out- lining natural and man-made boundaries to the land, and referring to significant marks or events of occupation, for example, describing a battle which gave a victorious invading party access to the land, or remarking on named features in the territory (trees, rocks, fences, gardens etc ) and the reasons for their names, or reciting a whakatauki and describing the occasion on which it was coined These minutes make fascinating reading to outsiders, they provide invaluable information for the descendants of those in Taitokerau who first gave these oral accounts in Court

It happened that as a by-product of its duties the Court created a written record in English for future oral historians Many people now use these records (with little thought of the Court) to compile their whakapapa and family torero which may have been lost by learned elders dying or forgotten in moving from papakamga (home areas) to the city, they make up for the disruption to the passing on of history by word of mouth The information satisfies personal interests and provides useful content for those who intend to participate in the oral arts These Court records, the old and the current, continue to work as written documents for the administration of the Court More recent papers chart details of the economic, legal and administrative aspects of l^nd and people, and these form part of the contemporary 'orero (for example, how a new marae was set up, what land was given for it and who its trustees are) All these paper records, one kind of source for the description of the Taitokerau peoples past and present, are available in the Maori Land Court Copies may be made of most documents, and the staff, who are there primarily to meet the administrative demands of the Court, will provide these materials for researchers' use, although they cannot carry out specific requests for personal research

A second and perhaps more valuable record for Taitokerau Maori history are the minute books which although of similar style and content to the Court's records are in Maori From its inception the Court was not without problems and criticisms An enduring request from Maori people was for its replacement by Maori committees so that they could decide amongst themselves who should be given title to land Informal gatherings for this purpose took place outside the Court but were not recognised legally One minute book in this collection testifies to this It contains the minutes from meetings during 1881 of the Treaty of Waitangi Committees (from the Treaty of Waitangi movement which was to develop to the Kotahitanga and Maori Parliaments) in which the claims to a number of blocks of land were settled Recog- nition by legislation of the demand for autonomous committees was partially given by the 1883 Native Conmittees Act in which Maori committees in defined areas could settle local disputes, determine the owners of any block of land to go before the Court, ascertain successors to deceased owners, and settle arguments over boundaries A minute book from the Pewhairangi (Bay of Islands) Committee (1885-1890) remains in this collection (perhaps the only extant record of these committees) and shows that this committee at least carried out most of the terms of the Act Again in 1900 the 64

Maori Lands Administration Act allowed those claiming a particular block of papatupu land to elect a committee to make full investigation into ownership according to Maori custom Committee decisions, if undisputed, went to the District Land Council for confirmation and order of title These committees, named Papatupu Block Committees, were most successful in the North, 36 minute books remain from them and are kept in the Department

As I have said, the information in these minute books is of the same kind as that in the Court's minute books - although they tend to record a claimant's evidence more fully and include more of the traditional and esoteric knowledge By this time the claims were set up in a more or less standard format to suit the Court The korero had been adapted to the situation That was traditionally the politically flexible aspect of all inherited knowledge - you called on ancient references and past dialogues to affirm the argument you were persuading your audience to, it happens the same today on the marae and at all hui. That korero content in the minute books retains its varied and variable role, and also its dual application to writing and speech - within the Court for legal purposes and outside it on the marae for social and political purposes

As an example of how these records of the past contribute in thp present minutes relating to one block of land have been copied and taken back to the marae community in that area There has been discussion of the texts with elders which has enhanced their recall and alternatively explained the text further, trips over the land have re-identi- fied forgotten place names while others have been understood because of explanation in the manuscript, whakatauki have been used again m speeches, and the narrative of events has become incorporated in the carving and art work of the young work groups attached to the marae The substance of the written text has taken its place again in the cycle of cultural arts of that community

The minute books in Maori are important because they are a record of the past in the language and form appropriate foreasy transition»to the oral context These records too are available for reading and copying (more easily so when National Archives has carried out its promised programme of preservation) The continuity of that oral record recited in the Court is maintained when the testimony is heard again in the oratory on Taitokerau marae, it is ensured and "remembered" by its permanent form in the manuscripts The close ties felt for such information, implied in my earlier reference to the intimate and individual cycles of .korero, are maintained by the presence of the books in the region of their people, their source, these ties and the continuity of the spoken torero are assured because the records in the Department are freely accessible

In conclusion, and bearing in mind the argument of my paper and the example of the Department's work, I would like to comment on some problems which seem to me to exist with access and distribution of sources for Maori history and which exist because of the oral context of Maori materials I have been stressing that the oral context of Maori literary and historical sources needs to be foremost in our minds Written and printed Maori language and literature are in the process of development Most traditional information is still acquired for oral transmission, much is only acquired through oral transmission (it is often said that for the young to acquire a knowledge of their past they must go to the hui and listen, and especially "Haere ki nga whare tangihanga" to go to tangí), on the marae and in other cultural activities speech is the medium In addition, and to some extent because of this orientation towards speech, sources derive from and contribute to a cycle of tradition which describes people, land and event and which is circumscribed by tribal whakapapa These are the characteristics which pertain to Maori texts and which help to explain what people feel about them and how they are used

Our national archival institutions exist and gain prestige through their acquisition of rare and special materials This means that certain conditions are placed on the use of their holdings, not only (and sensibly) to preserve them (or perhaps to carry out donors' wishes) but also to ensure that they remain in that institution, and that neither the item nor its content are removed without agreement or acknowledgement I think that the advance of the copying technology has changed this somewhat What was once possible to view only, now leaves institutions in great volume 65

in a charcoal photographic image The original remains but the text, the substance, goes Matter has always gone out in memories without restriction, and hand copying has been possible but seldom extensive

I'm not sure that your profession has come to terms yet with the wide dissemination of material which copying has allowed I might say, as a user, that you do not present a unified front on the matter - one can alternatively have xeroxes of a few pages, the whole item, or no copy because the light fades the manuscript (and this when no other copy existed) What seem rather arbitrary decisions are not what I want to dwell on here, although they are to some extent relevant Along with the copy there often (again not always) comes a stamp to the effect that it is provided by the institution and cannot be copied without permission The institution's possession is thus clearly marked on the text What does this possession mean' It is reasonable because it identifies the location of the material, it- is also a product of conventions built up over hundreds of years of adjustment from orality to literacy But with regard to Maori texts, there are two points which I would like to make for your consideration Firstly, when I have a xerox copy of a manuscript and a descendant of the person who wrote it asks me for a copy, I simply can't point to the message of the stamp, and I break the rules I don't deny that your reasons for this restriction may be good in principle, but the matter of ownership and limitations on the use of Maori materials is a difficult one Manuscripts as part of a collection in an institution may still be thought of as part of the writer's, the ancestor's, past and therefore of the descendant's future Who are the owners of the content7 If it is agreed for the papers to be published, does the agree- ment include the consent of the descendants of those who wrote the manuscripts and who may use that information as part of their intimate cycle of korero'' These are the sort of questions that the prevailing orality poses and which keepers and users of Maori materials need to address

Secondly, the act of publication in print brings another dilemma Permission is granted to publish archival sources and copyright applies to subsequent publications, these are the known and accepted practices of the world of print There is no copy- right as we know it on Maori oral literature There is, however, a kind of copyright, that is, restriction, in the tikanga (conventions) which pertain to the oral literature and its use The enforcing agency is not an Act but the ancient etiquette of tradition, and in some cases, tapu The conditions of our two kinds of copyrights diverge, for example for Maori people it is the topic and not the written text which is restricted - you don't learn or use another's whakapapa or special whakatauki from another hapu's traditions The rituals of restriction on use of information differ and part of that difference lies in the oral and literary modes of the two societies In Maori tradition the content of the text may be restricted, but the content within the right context is open to a flexibility which we, with our minds in grooves made by the intellectual strictures of print, may find confusing and irrational

For example, when we talk of Maori history (as the title of this session does) we think of the writing of a progressive and methodical account of the past Maori oral composition describing the 'past uses innovation and an adaptation of data which we would find unacceptable as history Sources for Maori history, for korero, are varied and interchangeable units of whakapapa waiata, tauparapara, whakatauki and so on The dynamics of korero of the past (which cannot be divorced from the present) are rhetoric, political strategy, wit, emotion, and pointedness We might style such a description of the past as unsubstantiated,'repetitious, subjective, and not history because it does not result in a logical, progressive narrative neatly attributed to named sources This is an opiomon, its use like that by Maori people is a fact and what we have to deal with when talking of sources for Maori history To draw an extreme comparison of the two styles of narration - the pakeha strives for the static and profane while the Maori honours the sacred and dynamic

If we acept the influence of orality on the style of a Maori account of the past, then we cannot expect that the written or printed documents of Maori archives should not become part of the floating, compositional units which make up the torero You cannot tie down such information with a stamp, or by a definition of what it is not No one giving a whaikorero or composing a waiata is going to acknowledge the source of a quotation from a library's manuscript or a book, or date it That may seem obvious, but with regard to the conventions restricting the use of archival tests it is not The question for our attention here is the basic and real distinction which exists in 66

working with data from oral and literate contexts. The flexibility of information in oral communication makes a mockery of rubber stamp restrictions - people add and sub- tract information for their korero and borrow from written texts with impunity The skill and fluency of the orator is not punctuated with references to the location of the sources in the speech, the acknowledgements go back much further, crediting those beyond the paper (which is a mere vehicle for data) to the generations of tupuna before

The paper information needs to be free enough to move with the flow of the korero, and the systems to preserve the material should be organised to meet the demands of its oral origins and use Technology is helping with this The flow of information out of the copier and to the people has started and has possibly made the decisions for us, that flow and the freedom of information which comes with it, is more like the oral context

The points that I have made may on the one hand seem exaggerated to you and ones which we could argue through to underlying universels of behaviour and ritual which both our cultures hold for the messages of the past The fundamental sources of manuscript and print are afer all human and oral But on the other hand, what we have to confront from day to day is the reality of pakeha traditions which have accrued from writing and a respect for the written word, and Maori tikanga (behaviour or practices) passed down from the ancestors and cherishing of the spoken text Realis- tically, therefore, we must consider the place of sources for Maori history in the light of the oral traditions Once we do this our store of sources will be greatly enriched How we do this is a matter for debate between professionals of both fields, Maori oral historians and archivists I think we are trying to address this issue in our work in the Department by recognising the people and their skill and preference for oral communication as the primary sources of Maori history

Jane McRae Department of Maori Affairs, whangarei

REFERENCES

ι Reference to the oral traditions as a source of information draws its own comparison between orality and literacy, the experience of listening is ephemeral (unless of course recorded on tape) and cannot be returned to as a book

2 The Library, Vol VI, no 4 (December 1984) pp 333-365 Also relevant to this topic are Walter J Ong, Orality and Literacy The Technologizing of the Word, London Methuen, 1982, and Jack Goody (ed), Literacy m Traditional Societies, Cambridge University Press, 1968 3 I would like to take issue here with the comment made in one of the opening speeches at the Conference that "an awareness of keeping records has been with us since 1840" An awareness of record keeping had been here long before that for the Maori people arrived with memory and art forms as their records

4 There is a restriction on the use of Adoption Records in the Court

5 For information on these committees see McRae, J , Participation Native Committees and Paptupu Block Committees in Tai Tokerau, Unpublished MA thesis, University of Auckland, 1981 67

MAORI LANGUAGE SOURCES : THE NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

Traps for the unwary

I am rather conscious that I may appear to be a cuckoo in the nest in this particular session However I see myself as counterpointing Rangi Walker He will be discussing cultural sensitivities I would like to raise some professional questions about the use of Maori language documents

There is no doubt in my mind that over the next decade a treasury of Maori papers in the possession of our libraries and hopefully in the possession of Maori families will become increasingly available and the hitherto limited vision that we have had of the intense debates that raged within Maori society from the 1840s to the 1920s will become accessible What Ε J Seamer described as the 'thought storms' in Maori society will be much better able to be analysed 1 There will be new evidence offered and new dimensions explored But my fear is that the wealth of new material may cause a loss of the requirement to apply critical standards to this material

One must never forget, as Peter Gay reminds us, that the chief use of any historian's scholarship and individual perception is to dig beneath the appearances to try to obtain reality 2

It has been very illuminating for me to work with the Ngata papers because I have had to consider very carefully what Ngata was trying to do All politicians have to temper their remarks to their audiences For instance, when Abraham Lincoln, campaigning to become Senator, was electioneering in the north of his home state, Illinois, he presented the case for freedom for the slaves in terms of the great moral issues As he moved further south, where voters of southern ancestry were more numerous, the element of self interest was allowed to intrude There he emphasised to his would-be constituents the danger runaway slaves would pose to the employment of the whites of those areas The ending of slavery in the South would stop this threat 3

The purist, who generally has not had to run for political office, would probably consider this hypocritical, to my mind it is rather a sensible refocussing of the issues to try to obtain majority support to win a central objective

I found the same astuteness, though some might label it ambivalence, in Apirana Ngata, who had to move between the worlds of his tribe and the Maori society of that period, and the dominant pakeha world Pakeha Victorian New Zealand, the world in which he was educated and in which he launched his political career, was a truly racist and ethnically self-centred society Maori values were not accepted and Maori culture had only a curio value, though there were the notable exceptions of the amateur scholars like Tregear, Percy Smith, Augustus Hamilton and Elsdon Best who tried to preserve Maori lore and art

Maori society in its turn was much more isolated than it is now, most Maoris lived in physically remote, fairly self-sufficient villages with the village school- master their principal contact with the government, and often with pakeha society generally 4 The young men might work in seasonal work but basically it was a Maori speaking, Maori structured society Interestingly, it was in its own terms a reason- ably literate society, supporting no less than five magazines during the 1890s and 1900s, a tradition of literacy that unfortunately faded in the 1930s 5

Ngata and his contemporaries had willy nilly to bridge these two worlds and to some degree Ngata, therefore, had to tailor his arguments to appeal to both sides I first became conscious of this in the 1960s when I looked at the Report of the First Conference of what is commonly known as the Young Maori Party. There is a Maori and an English version of what is intended to be a propaganda exercise to launch the group The English Report was intended to be read by the politicians, church groups and the teaching service Indeed Ngata in his Report to the Second Conference of the Young Maori Party describes himself as physically handing out their report around Parliament Buildings 6 Naturally this report was strong in its pleas for moral reform and particularly condemned pernicious Maori customs and the activities of the 68

Tohunga in emphatic and vivid language The Maori version was intended to appeal to the Chiefs and Elders of the Kotahitanga movement Its form was very different and included a traditional Mihi The strong references to Maori customs were eliminated or at least very markedly toned down The treatment of the Tohunga was particularly interesting, they were not exonerated but a careful distinction was drawn between the men who had been trained and in the traditional Whare Wananga who were using the wisdom of the ancestors, and the untrained who were using a dangerous combination of half remembered lore and pakeha importations 7

Without understanding the context in which Ngata was working, it would be easy to assume that what appeared in Maori represented the true views of the Young Maori Party and the English version was what it was expedient to say I would suggest that the reality was far more complex Ngata reconciled his Maori cultural values with Chris- tianity and his pakeha education by a belief that traditional Maori society under the firm direction of the Tohunga had been moral and just The advent of the pakeha with muskets, liquor and disease had destroyed that balance, and Maori institutions and customs had been debased and corrupted by pakeha contact His ultimate aim was to reform Maori institutions and purify Maori customs 8

He had little time for the modern Tohunga, though in his own tribal area he had to accept the hold they had over his people There he resorted to the expedient of licensing them so the local Maori Council would have some form of control In Parliament he supported the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act He was a bitter opponent of the Ratana movement, which he saw as the typical hybrid movement that would destroy the kinship institutions of Maori society

The key, I would suggest, to understanding where Ngata's heart lay is to look very carefully at the origins of the document, and who was the intended audience You also have to consider very carefully its context, and in particular the other writings and actions of the person concerned to come to a proper interpretation of them

I would strongly emphasise this last point

The minute consideration historians should give to documents is neatly stated by J J Bagley in his book Historical Interpretation Sources of English Medieval History, 1066-1540 when he discusses Court records

The main intention of the judicial record is to state the charges preferred against accused persons, the complaints made by plaintiffs against defen- dants, the courts' verdicts, and the punishments inflicted These details help the historian to understand the age he is studying, especially if he can get behind the bare recital of facts and glimpse the philosophy and outlook of the men involved But often the casual incidental details help him more The early records reveal widespread violence and poverty, as well as the sufferings caused to the innocent by wars and revolts, which romantic historians and many novelists clothe in dramatic and colourful pageantry In these records humble people rub shoulders with the rich and the powerful, and some men stand out either as persistent troublemakers or active officials They all contributeto historical understanding even their names - English, Celtic, Danish and Norse - as well as the spelling of the names of towns, villages and fields can cause academic excitement For historians waste less of early documents than butchers do of a pig's carcass Not even the squeal escapes them 9

Yet Bagley's quote emphasises any document is only a building brick in developing an interpretation

Historians have the great advantage over judges that we are not confined to analysing a document placed in front of us for adjudication, making what sense or non-sense of it that we can It is possible, and indeed imperative, to go out to look for further evidence beyond that single document The historical method is to interpret any document within the whole context of the life of that person or of the institution, organisation etc that produced it No matter how self contained it may seem to be, any doucment is still part of a larger whole and its full meaning and context can only be drawn from it by understanding its cultural context 69

I can further illustrate the danger of taking Maori language documents at their face value without carefully considering their context by quoting from a Master of Arts thesis This was entitled 'Maori Land Policy and Administration during the Liberal Period, 1900-1912' The writer, who could read Maori, had carefully studied the Maori language correspondence in the Department of Maori Affairs' files to judge Maori attitudes to the Maori land administration policy of the Liberals She concluded

Such complaints over particular issues affecting certain individuals do not signify a general dissatisfaction with the system of Maori land administration Rather, they show a healthy interest in the system and a desire to use it to its best advantage Although in the early stages, the Maoris appeared reluctant to vest their land in the councils and boards for administrative purposes, they began to gain confidence in the system with the increase of compulsory vesting There seemed to be no widespread dissatisfaction with the institute of the boards as such 10

Yet just six pages later in the text the writer refers to the revival of Kotahitantaga o te Tiriti o' waitangi because of dissatisfaction with the 1900 Maori Land Administration Act and the 1905 Maori Land Settlement Act A further movement, the Maori Emancipation Movement, opposed completely the whole trend of Maori legis- lation and land administration and their views were published in a periodical, The Maori Record which added its own particularly strident criticism of the work of Carroll and Ngata

In fact Maoris were quite as pragmatic as any other group and well able to distinguish between the policy-makers and the administrators It was the former in Parliament who received 14 numerously signed petitions praying that Maoris be placed on the same footing as Europeans with regard to their lands It was their MPs and the Native Minister who were called to account on the Marae and who had to answer the supporters of Kotahitanga The administrators in the Department and in the Boards throughout the country would be addressed on particular matters rather than receive demands for the abolition of the system The letters in the file tell about the impact of the system on Maori clients but will not tell us by themselves whether the demand was for reform of abolition of the system

It was the MPs in the 1908 and 1911 elections who had to face the critics of the system Ngata apparently answered his critics so well that in the 1908 election he was returned with a thumping majority, a distinct contrast to his first election in 1905 where he had won the most votes but not with a clear majority In the 1911 election he was elected unopposed Yet Henare Kaihau in Western Maori was defeated in 1911 by Maui Pomare supported by Te Puea, for upholding these same policies This varied experience highlights both the factors of individual calibre and the regional differences in Maori politics This makes for a very complex picture which no indivi- dual document or even set of documents, can quite encompass, the more varied the sources the historian uses and the more carefully he analyses them the more compre- hensive and sounder an interpretation should emerge

Finally I have used the concept of twin worlds in analysing Maori and pakeha New Zealand But I would like to make it clear that this is a simplification The two cultures were never completely separate and there was contact at all levels I can identify five levels

- Intermarriage - the most intimate contact of all - though it tends to have left few records Intermarriage has always been a significant factor in New Zealand life but it awaits a proper study

- Commercial contacts which were wide-ranging but often tend to be superficial

- Press contact There is considerable amount of Maori material in the newspapers but most of it is reportage at a fairly limited level

- The formal organs of government These of course vastly outweigh in quantity any other records and range from the diary of a village school teacher to the policy files of the Minister of Maori Affairs 70

- Finally there is the surviving papers of the formal spokesmen and the mediators between the two communities To some extent these people were pakeha in the nineteenth century and Maori in the twentieth century -

So far Maori history has tended to be written from these sources Obviously these are partial but they do reflect some realities of Maori life As Maori language material becomes available our horizons are going to be vastly expanded but it will become important to see the new documents in a context of what has already been estab- lished and to weigh them against the existing material

Then one must consider the types of documents and material that will emerge All of these have both strengths and weaknesses Indeed you can virtually create a hier- archy of sources 12

The documents most historians treasure are private papers But these always have limitations, characteristically papers consist of letters, diaries, financial, business and legal documents down to the ephemera of menus and theatre programmes The library and the magazines that he or she possessed are also important as background to a person's interests and thoughts For Maori family papers a very important part of any collection are likely to be the Whakapapa books Translated as Genealogical books, they are generally far more than lists of ancestors and may well include tribal and legendary naratives as well as the songs, and appropriate mi hi that the orator and geneaologist needed to have Such a book will often be a family record and may have passed through several generations It can also function as a commonplace book with quotes from the Bible etc incorporated into it Some examples I have seen have had important documents interleaved with them They are in fact a unique Maori cultural expression and will pose fascinating methodological and sourcing problems to researchers Anybody wishing to know more about their role should study Eruera the Teachings of a Maori Elder 13

From what I have already said you will note that these books are a medley of primary and secondary sources and if it has passed through several hands dating and ascribing entries will be a real problem

The limitations of other private material are more obvious Letters, apart from routine official or business ones, are part of a continuing dialogue, you have to understand the relationship between the letter writers and all too often you only have one half of the correspondence

A diary can be a particularly nasty trap It is an immediate reaction to events and people feel free to express the most extreme emotions and attitudes in it, yet what was said and done publicly was often quite different, it is dangerous to assume that now the "true character" of your subject has shown itself, when some emotional steam may merely have been let off in the diary There is also a dreadful tendency to pose in it because you may consider it your record to posterity Then there are the disap- pointing journals that merely record engagements and notes about the weather

Finally with private papers you are at the mercy of the winnowing process Any individual's papers represent the residue of a lifetime After death they can be unmercifully reduced by a family wanting to preserve a legend or simply save space In the case of the Maori, such papers, especially the Whakapapa books, can be considered too tapu to hold and may, like other personal possessions, be burnt or buried with the deceased

The next most important category is all the documents generated by the official process in New Zealand My paper has already commented on some of the problems of interpretation they give rise to

Then there is the published material of newspapers, pamphlets and ephemera such as leaflets, invitaitons etc All of them have a place I have already mentioned the newspapers and I would underline that you must understand who was publishing your paper and what its readership was Pipiwharauroa which was started by Rev Bennett in 1898 and later edited by the Rev R Kohere obviously had a very different readership and purpose from the Kingitanga's newspaper re Paki o Matariki 71

There is one other source, the oral recollections of people This however is too complex a subject to be tackled here and readers should refer back.to my article on 'Oral History as Biography' in the June 1985 issue of Archifacts CONCLUSION

In all this the final point to remember, so that we do not let our capacity for taking pains delude us, is that after we have made every effort to find all relevant documents and to collate them, then the historian puts on a new cap He becomes the artist who uses his imagination and literary skills to shape a work that reflects his times

John Kenyon sums up 400 years of British history as follows

Yet if this book has shown anything, it is that the past is a dream world, and we do have to imagine it We try to reconstruct men's motives from their statements and actions, and the remarks of other people about them, but this is really only conjecture The professional historian can do no more than create a skeleton of the past All historians, consciously or unconsciously, and however scrupulous they may be, fill out their skeleton of the past with conjectured flesh which accords with their conception of the present and confirms their hopes or fears for the future 5

Graham Butterworth Wellington

REFERENCES

1 Cited in J M Henderson Ratana, the origins and the story of the Movement Wellington Polynesian Society, 1963 ρ 16

2 Ρ Gary style m history London Jonathan Cape, 1975 ρ 198

3 My original source was a Mr Ρ Cheesewright who had done a specialist paper on Lincoln I note that G Sinkler The racial attitudes of American Presidents From Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt Doubleday and Co New York 1972 R S Nye and J Ε Morpurgo A history of the United States vol two the growth of the USA London Penguin, 1955 Chapter 24 discusses his ambiguity on the racial issue

4 See J A Williams Politics of the New Zealand Maori Protest and Cooperation, 1891-1909 University of Auckland 1969, ρ 12-32 for a general description of Maori society in the 1890s

5 See J A Williams Politics supra ρ 185-186 for full titles and dates of publication

6 "Report of the Second Conference of the Te Aute College Students Association" Daily Telegraph, Napier 1898 ρ 79

7 See G V Butterworth "The politics of adaptation the career of Sir Apirana Ngata 1874-1928" M A Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 1969 ρ 36-38

8 See A Τ Ngata rte past and future of the Maori Christchurch Press 1893

9 J.J Bagley Historical Interpretation Sources of English History, 1066-1540 London Penguin, 1965 ρ 83-84

ίο Β Gilmore, MA Thesis, 1969 (p 147), University of Auckland 72

11 See M King re Puea A Biography Auckland Hodder and Stoughton, 1982 (rev ed ) pp 54-64

12 For this section of the paper I consulted

J J Bagley Historical Interpretation J Barzun and H J Goff The Moaern Researcher Revised Edition 1970 Harcourt Brace and World New York G R Elton The Practice of History London 1975 Ρ Gay style m History 1975 Jonathan Cape London M I Finley The Use and Abuse of History J Kenyon The History Men The Historical Profession m England since the Renaissance 1981 Weidenfeld and Nicolson London A Marwick The Nature of History 1975 Macmillam Student Editions London

13 Ε Stirling as told to A Salmond Eruera The Teachings of a Maori Elder Wellington Oxford University Press, 1980

14 G V Butterworth 'Oral History as Biography Three Case Studies in Maori Biography' Archifacts June 1985 1985/2 pp 30-41

15 J Kenyon supra ρ 287

CULTURAL SENSITIVITY TO THE SANCTITY OF WANANGA (KNOWLEDGE)

The world-view of the Maori concerning the sanctity of knowledge is defined in the cosmogonie myths The Maori recognised three states of existence beginning with Te Kore (the void), Te po (the dark), and re aomarama (the world of light) These three states of existence are sequentially tabulated in the manner of a genealogy, each with its own subdivisions marked by qualifying adjectives

In the first state re tore signified the vastness of space and time in which there was nothing but the primeval matter of the universe The subdivisions of this state re kore te whiwhia (when nothing could be obtained) re kore te rawea (when nothing could be felt) et al, corresponds to aeons of time before the world came into existence re kore encloses the beginning of creation It is the realm of potential between non- being and being, when the seeds of the universe came into existence (Simmons, 1985 Ρ 17)

re po (the dark) followed re tore as the realm of becoming This second state of existence was also divided into stages by qualifying adjectives such as re po unun (deep dark), re po tiwhatiwha (intense dark), re po tangotango (great dark), to the tenth, hundredth and thousandth division of time (Buck, 1950 ρ 434) The recitation of these primeval periods culminate in the names of Rangmui (the sky father) and Papatuanuku (the earth mother) who materialised m Te Kore to become the cause of re po the second state of existence re po is the celestial realm when Rangi and Papa generated the gods

The sons of Rangi and Papa were cramped in their world of darkness qs Tane SO separated earth and sky to bring into being re ao marama (the world of light), the third state of existence in which humans live 73

Darkness and light are binary oppositions re po is the hidden world of the gods Letting light into the world is also symbolic of knowledge which is good But intro- ducing good into re ao marama also brings with it its binary opposite of evil Indeed, the Rangikaheke version of the creation myth unequivocally states that separation of Rangi and Papa was the first evil brought into the world Therefore it is reasonable to assert that the separation of earth and sky in the Maori cosmogonie myth is the analogue to the Biblical story of the eating of fruit from the Tree of Knowledge

The evil consequence which followed the separation was the war of the gods, in which Tumatauenga vanquished all his brothers except Tawhinmatea (god of winds) and turned his brothers to common use as artifacts or food Eating the children of rane (forests), Tangaroa (sea) Rongo (kumara) and mumiatiketike (wild produce), introduced another basic binary opposition between tapu (sacred) and noa (common or profane) Food is the antithesis of tapu and consuming the children of the gods was in effect desacralising them

It was in the third state of existence that Tane combined ira atua (divine principle) with ira tangata (human principle) when he created Hineahuone (earth formed maid) and breathed life into her Tane cohabited her to beget Hinetntama (dawn maid) In the next generation Tane cohabited Hinetntama who on discovering the nature of her relationship with Tane fled to Rarohenga (Hades) there to become Hinenuitepo (goddess of death)

The myth sequence then goes on to relate the adventures of Maui the demi-god The myths depict Maui as a culture hero who was larger than life displaying all the admired character traits of bravery, initiative, resourcefulness and cunning Maui was the arch-trickster who by a mixture of persistence and guile achieved all his goals except of course the last one in his tassle with death itself against Hinenuitepo

Maui epitomises humanity's endless quest for knowledge Only the gods are all- knowing They possess all knowledge concerning art, science, magic and religion So Maui as a demi-god acts as a mediator fetching knowledge from the gods above him in the genealogical table and making it available for human beings who came after him From his ancestor Murirangawhenua he fetched the enchanted jawbone which he used as a weapon to beat the sun and slow its passage across the sky From the same jawbone he fashioned the hook with which he fished up the land Thus, Maui provided the prototype for all bone weapons and artifacts There was an element of risk involved in acquiring the enchanted jawbone from Murirangawhenua which underlies the ambivalent relationship between the young who seek knowledge and older person who is its custodian

The risk in acquiring knowledge was made explicit in Maui's quest for the secret of fire from the goddess Mahuika Maui's persistence and cunning paid off, but he nearly lost his life in the process when Mahuika's anger was roused by his deceit and she caused the world to catch on fire Only the intervention of gods higher up in the cosmogony saved him Perhaps the myth of Maui tempering with the goddess of fire serves as a paradigm for us today who live under threat of a nuclear holocaust In his final quest for knowledge and immortality Maui was defeated by Hinenuitepo, thus clearly defining the boundary of knowledge between re po and re aomarama

After Maui came the legendary hero Tawhaki who climbed the hanging vines up to the 10th heaven to fetch the three baskets of knowledge The first basket known as re Kete Tuaun contained the ancient knowledge of gods, their genealogies and the genealogies of men The second basket re Kete Tuatea was the basket of anxiety which contained the knowledge of evil such as black magic and makutu (sorcery) The third basket was re Kete Aromii, the basket of suitable things such as love, peace-making, companionship, carving, house-building, agriculture and all other things men need to know (Simmons 1985 ρ 21)

Each of the baskets of knowledge was taught in separate whare-wananga (schools of learning) The college for the Kete Tuaun produced the tohunga ahurewa (high priests) who were the masters of astronomy, genealogy, karakia (incantations), esoteric lore, and white magic Students were generally taken from the rangatira (aristocracy) class Graduates from this school had to pass stringent tests which involved prodigious feats of memory and word-perfect recitation of karakia The most difficult test of all involved mastery over the phenomenological world by the power of incantion For example, blasting the maun (life force) of a living plant by the power of incantation 74

so that it dies, or knocking down a bird in flight by the same means The whare wananga was always under the strict laws of tapu (sacred prohibition) when it was in session It sat in the winter months and training extended sometimes over seven years

Knowledge from re Kete Tuatea was taught in a college known as re whare Maire (The house of black arts) Some of the candidates in this school were rejects from the whare wananga which would imply an inferior grade of graduate who was known as a tohunga makutu (sorcerer) The power of the tohunga ahurewa was superior to that of the tohunga makutu

The schools for Te Kete Aronui were more open and variable because of the wider ranging technical and practical matters taught there However, in some schools such as carving, the tapu prohibitions surrounding them were as stringent as for the whare wananga of re Kete Tuaun The sanction behind the power of tapu was death which was laid down by an incident in the Tawhaki myth When Tawhaki was journeying to the hanging vines for the climb to the heavens, he passed the sacred citadel of Tongameha on the way He forbade his slaves to look at Tongameha's pa, one of them did and he perished, having his eyes torn out by the power of tapu

The sacred nature of carving as taught in the whare wananga is laid down in the origin myth from Tangaroa The prototype of all carved houses was in the domain of Tangaroa, god of the sea Since carving was a divine treasure, an intermediary culture-hero was needed to fetch it Ruatepupuke who had offended Tangaroa was that intermediary He had to go to rescue his son who had been turned into a bird and hung as an adornment on Tangaroa1s carved house for his offence The rescue was successful, and as a consequence, Ruatepupuke returned to re aomarma with the knowledge of the fine carved poupou (posts) inside Tangaroa's house In a brilliant analysis Mead argues the case for the gradual desecralising of the art and the symbolic transfor- mations associated with that process whereby the art could be undertaken by human beings " (Mead, 1984 pp 65-68)

The art of the Maori carving is more than a matter of artistic creativity and aesthetic appreciation It is a symbolling system for the transmission of knowledge from the creation of the universe to the descent of human beings Carving expresses the basic values of Maori society, respect for the gods, the ancestors, tradition fertility and continuity

It is clear from the preceding analysis of the Maori world view that the acquisition of knowledge from the celestial realm and its transmission to humans from one generation to the next was a highly sacred matter The tohunga as the priestly custodians of knowledge were intensely sacred personages whose mana commanded awe, reverence and respect similar to the divine right of kings

Respect for the tohunga was readily translated to respect for the missionaries, the bearers of new knowledge, when they established their mission school in the Bay of Islands in 1816

A culture which had its own symbolling system was quick to appreciate the meaning of written words In the,1830s the Maori enthusiastically adopted reading and writing, especially when passages of the bible were made available in Maori translations Missionary trained teachers spread knowledge to most parts of the North Island In 1840, when George Clarke travelled through the Thames-Waikato districts it was found that between 800 and 1,000 of the Maori people could read the scriptures (Bamngton and Beaglehole (1974 ρ 26) In most villages at least one or two people could be found who could read and write

As Maori culture began to disintegrate as a consequence of the multiple effects of introduced diseases and musket warfare, the Maori turned increasingly to the missionaries as the peace makers It is truly written "blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the earth" Missionary influence helped bring about annexation of New Zealand and a replication of the process of colonial despoliation which the humanitarians and the Church Missionary Society tried to avert through the incorporation of pious ideals in the Colonial Office's instructions to Captain Hobson

As the pakeha gained the upper hand in New Zealand the Maori leaders felt the need to record their sacred knowledge One tohunga of the old school of learning who did it 75

in the carved form of a meeting house was Raharuhi Tukupo The house Te Hau ki Turanga in the Dominion Museum is the finest embodiment of Maori sculptural art in the recording of tradition when it was carved in 1840-42 Other tohunga saw the passing of this tradition, as missionaries railed against ancestor worship and emascualted Maori carvings of their sex organs They turned to writing as a method of recording their wananga (knowledge) before it disappeared back to the celestial realm with the passing of elders Many of these in the form of manuscripts and family books recorded the whakapapa (tribal genealogies of their people) Others like Te Matorohanga who was trained in the traditions of the tohunga as well as being familiar with Christianity held a formal whare wananga (school of learning) in the late 1850s to record what purported to be authentic tradition before it was lost

Governor Grey collected Maori manuscripts and the Grey Collection in the Auckland Public Library exceeds 9,800 pages which he accumulated between 1845 and 1854 (Simmons, 1976 ρ 363) John White also accumulated manuscripts by a system of payments of £5 for a "full" exercise book and £3 for one that was incomplete White's appeal to Maori cupidity, given the tapu nature of wananga, is unfortunate and must cast considerable doubt on the authenticity of some material in his "full" books

The prevailing cultural attitude of the Maori to original family whakapapa books and manuscripts is that they are treasures left by the ancestors for future generations They^are held to be tapu and must be handled with due care and respect It is considered inappropriate to put manuscripts or whakapapa books on a table where food is served, or to take them into a dining room or kitchen Furthermore, some manuscripts might be so tapu as to be inimical to the well-being of people who have no tribal right to gain access to them But in the modern world, scholars who are equivalent of tohunga may be granted that right by the owners In this case it might be necessary to conduct whakawatea (tapu lifting ceremonies) Facsímil íes and photocopies do not have the same tapu attached to them as the original, although the wananga they carry is still respected

This paper would not be complete without some comment on the prevailing Maori attitude to research and publication Ideologically, researchers believe that social problems can be resolved by sound empirically based research They search out Maori manuscripts or go into Maori communities and seek out information by observation, social surveys or interviews with informants In doing so, they accumulate a deficit between themselves and the community The community has given to them, but they have not reciprocated in any tangible way that would balance the account The imbalance increases when the researchers writes a dissertation or publishes a book thus adding to the whare wananga's store of knowledge and in the process gaining honours for himself Illich points out that the problem or implied lack in the community which motivated research "turns into more power and money for the problem solvers " (Illich, 1977)

There is a plethora of literature on the Maori which has been accumulated over a hundred years, yet the plight of the Maori as an underclass in New Zealand hardly changes as a consequence of it

The Maori has only recently realised that research is to some extent a predatory activity which contradicts their own value system as expressed in the following aphorism

"Ñau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ki te kete" "An offering from you, an offering from me and we will fill the basket"

Negative Maori reaction to research and publication of books on the Maori is in effect a call for the pakeha to balance the account For this reason, the effort of the Auckland Public Library, in cataloguing and binding its Maori manuscripts is a welcome move The presentation of a set of those manuscripts to the University Marae is a gesture that is much appreciated Perhaps we can look forward to the day when other libraries do the same Because so little has been done in the past with Maori manu- scripts, there is much to be done in the futre For instance I have spent considerable time on a private interest of translating two of the proceedings of the Maori Parliament in 1892 Jane McRae has translated the rest for the Turnbull Library Both of us learned a great deal about ourselves and our society in the process I look forward to the day when translating of all Maori manuscripts will be made available for 76

scholarly research The task might seem daunting but the return in terms of truly knowing our past will bring its own rewards Moves to incorporate Maori carvings and cultural symbols in libraries and the employment of Maori Librarians and archivists are long overdue

Maori people have for the last 150 years been defining a bicultural perspective for our nation, but it seems that it is only in the last five years that pakehas have deigned to listen, and to make a few tentative steps in that direction I am optimistic that we will accelerate the pace of translating that perspective into reality, for only when that happens will we achieve our true sense of nationhood as people of the Pacific

R J Walker Centre for Continuing Education University of Auckland

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barrington J M and Beaglehole J H Maori schools m a changing society Christchurch Whitcoulls/NZCER, 1974

Buck Sir Ρ Η The Coming of the Maori Wellington Whitcombe and Tombs, 1950

Grey Sir G Polynesian Mythology Wellington Whitcombe and Tombs, 1956

Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna Wellington Watkins/Maori Purposes Fund Board, 1953

Illich I Reports Magazine World Education No 15 (1977)

Mead S M re Maori (Association of American Federation of Arts) Auckland Heinemann, 1984

Simmons D The Great New Zealand Myth Wellington 1976

whakairo Auckland Oxford University Press, 1985 ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND INC.

P.O. BOX 11-553 MANNERS STREET WELLINGTON, N.Z.

PATRON : Sir John Marshall

COUNCIL

PRESIDENT: Stuart Strachan c/- Hocken Library, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin

VICE PRESIDENTS: Anne Bromell 4 Kathryn Avenue, Mt Roskill, Auckland 4

Brad Patterson 20 Khyber Road, Seatoun, Wellington

SECRETARY : Michael Hoare 58 Beauchamp Street, Τ awa

TREASURER: Richard Hill 53 Moana Road, Kelburn, Wellington

EDITOR: Michael Hodder P.O. Box 28-011, Kelburn, Wellington

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: David Retter P.O. Box 11-553, Manners Street, Wellington

COUNCILLORS: Caroline Etherington c/- National Archives, P.O. Box 1308, iristchurch Christchurch

Brian Henderson c/- Wanganui Museum, P.O. Box 352, Wanganui

Stephen Innes c/- Dunedin Public Library, P.O. Box 5542, Moray Place, Dunedin

Mary Reid c/- Taranaki Museum, P.O. Box 315, New Plymouth

Marlene Sayers 97 Happy Valley Road, Owhiro Bay, Wellington

Sherwood Young 22 Taupo Crescent, Plimmerton

C COMMITTEE CONVENORS

Archival education and training Michael Hodder P.O. Box 28-011, Kelburn, Wellington

Business archives Kevin Bourke c/- P.O. Box 11-100, Manners Street, Wei 1ington.

Labour archives Cathy Marr c/- National Archives, P.O. Box 6148 Wei 1ington

Records management Rosemary Col 1ier c/- P.O. Box 11-100, Manners Street Wellington

Religious archives Beverley Booth c/- Hocken Library, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin.

Women's archives Kay Matthews Education Dept, University of Waikato, Private Bag, Hamilton

SPOKESPERSONS

Architectural archives Robin Griffin BNZ Archives, P.O. Box 2392, Wellington

Cartographic archives Brad Patterson 20 Khyber Road, Seatoun, Wellington

Oral archives Graham Butterworth 83 Gloaming Hill, Onepoto, Titahi Bay

BRANCH CHAIRPERSONS

Auckland Verna Mossong 1 Bruce Road, Glenfield, Auckland

Canterbury Caroline Etherington c/- National Archives, P.O. Box 1308 Christchurch

Otago/ Southland Peter Miller c/- Hocken Library, P.O. Box 56 Dunedin

Waikato In recess

Well ington David Retter c/- Alexander Turnbull Library, P.O. Box 12-349, Wellington

D OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

1. TO FOSTER the care, preservation, and proper use of archives and records, both public and private, and their effective administration.

2. TO AROUSE public awareness of the importance of archives and records and in all matters affecting their preservation and use, and to co-operate or affiliate with any other bodies in New Zealand or elsewhere with like objects.

3. TO PROMOTE the training of archivists, records keepers, curators, librarians and others by the dissemination of specialised knowledge and by encouraging the provision of adequate training in the administration and conservation of archives and records.

4. TO ENCOURAGE research into problems connected with the use, administration and conservation of archives and records, and to promote the publication of the results of this research.

5. TO PROMOTE the standing of archives institutions.

5. TO ADVISE and support the establishment of archives services throughout New Zealand.

7. TO PUBLISH a bulletin at least once a year and other publications in furtherance of these objects.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership of the Association is open to any individual or institution interested in fostering the objects of the Association. Subscription rates for 1986 are:

within New Zealand tozl7.00 individ(JALS $ΑΤΖ25.00 institutions overseas $JVZ20.00 $ΛΓΖ28.00

Overseas members who wish airmail dispatch of notices and bulletins will need to advise their requirements. The additional fee will depend on current postal charges.

Applications to join the Association, membership renewals and correspondence on related matters should be addressed to:

The Membership Secretary ARANZ P.O. Box 11-553 Manners Street WELLINGTON New Zealand Registered

at the

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