The Meeting Place - A New Zealand History Blog

Owning Our History: The New Zealand Wars webinar was held on 22 March 2020. Kaikōrero / Speakers: Joanna Kidman and Vincent O'Malley Ringa hāpai / Chair: Susan Healy Watch the video (58:42) here. When Ōtorohanga College pupils petitioned Parliament in 2015, calling for a national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars, they sparked a vital debate about memory, identity and history. How do New Zealanders remember and forget difficult events in our colonial past? Why are some conflicts publicly remembered while others are forgotten or overlooked? And who decides? Now that New Zealand history will be taught in all schools from 2022, these questions become vitally important. We argue that iwi and hapū need to be at the forefront of conversations around this new curriculum and that connecting with mana whenua histories will empower rangatahi to better understand the places they call home. To watch other webinars from the Te Tiriti-Based Futures + A