January 18, 2018
Maori Battalion recordings aired
Recordings made during the welcome home for members of the 28th Maori Battalion will be the highlight of the second online exhibition of early te reo Maori recordings put together by Nga Taonga Sound & Vision.
The exhibition which goes live on January 23 is drawn from RNZ’s Nga Taonga Korero archive of Maori radio programmes from the 1930s to the 1980s.
The New Zealand Broadcasting Service captured speeches, waiata and haka from January 23, 1946, when the troops were given a civic reception at Wellington’s Aotea Quay.
The mobile recording unit then accompanied northbound battalion members on their train, and recorded powhiri at Ngaruawahia and Kaikohe.
Archive manager Honiana Love says Te Hokinga Mai o Te Rua Tekau ma Waru “will allow us to hear again the voices from what must have been an emotional day – the voices of Kingi Tahiwi, Ihaia Puketapu, Eruera Tirikatene and many others.
"The recordings of Nga Taonga Korero contain many outstanding examples of oratory and Maori performing arts. Nga Taonga is committed to sharing these taonga so that more New Zealanders can hear again the rich vocabulary captured in these recordings, and through that, appreciate and value te kounga o te reo." she says.
The first exhibition on the ngataonga.org.nz website Te Putaketanga o Nga Taonga, features the oldest recorded Maori broadcast – recordings of the opening of Turongo at Turangawaewae marae, Ngaruawahia in March 1938.
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