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COVID-19 is having an enormous impact on those involved in the arts, culture, heritage and sports sectors. Manatū Taonga is working closely with Crown entities and funded agencies to understand the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our sector and to determine the most effective response in this fast-changing situation.
COVID-19 – Information for our sector
Māori language week is an opportunity for concentrated celebration, promotion and encouragement. And every minute of every hour of every day is a Māori language minute – we can choose to use te reo – every time we do, even just a ‘Kia ora!’ contributes to revitalisation.
Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori
The journey towards recognising Māori as an official language and taonga has been captured as a web series and launched today during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. The Treaty Settlement story: Te Mana o te Reo Māori is published online by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, in partnership with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission). It was created as part of the Te Tai Treaty Settlements programme that is aimed at increasing understanding of the past by exploring Treaty settlements and their enduring impact.
Te Mana o te Reo Māori
New Zealand women won the right to vote on 19 September 1893. 127 years on, check out NZHistory's feature on 'Women, the Vote and Activism' which marked Suffrage 125 in 2018.
Suffrage Day 2020
The Museum Hardship Fund administered by Te Papa is accepting applications, welcoming cultural organisations across Aotearoa to apply for up to $25,000 per grant.
The Museum Hardship Fund now welcoming applications across Aotearoa
The Ministry's Heritage EQUIP programme provides advice and funding to help building owners strengthen their earthquake prone heritage buildings. The next funding round closes on 28 September 2020. For more details and how to apply, visit https://heritageequip.govt.nz/
Call for Heritage EQUIP applications
Applications for the 2021 Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund open today and communities throughout the country are encouraged to apply for funding to support their local events. Applications for funding grants, which generally range from $1000 to $5000, are open until 19 October 2020.
2021 Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund now open
An award-winning children’s story in Te Reo Māori about a giant with a kind heart has been reimagined by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Te Tira Pūoro o Aotearoa for a special whānau-friendly video to premiere this Sunday 20 September 2020.
NZSO to stream award-winning story in Te Reo Māori to music
An appeal for relatives is a search to locate the next of kin for soldiers who fell in war. Could you be connected to this individual, Gunner Rayner Harris?
Appeal for relatives - Commonwealth War Graves Manawatu District

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Kāinga Te tuakiri, te taonga tuku iho o Aotearoa Ngā whakamaharatanga me ngā huritau

Commemorations & anniversaries

Commemoration means marking an important historical event on or around a meaningful anniversary. Commemoration brings people together in physical and virtual spaces to reflect on the past and its relevance to the present. There doesn’t have to be a formal remembrance ceremony or a physical monument – commemoration could involve sharing historical information through a website, or creating artistic works that respond to an anniversary, for example.

The New Zealand Government has a policy on commemoration of historical anniversaries, first developed in 2009 and updated in 2014. Under this policy, a list of anniversaries to be commemorated is agreed several years in advance. This allows coordination and planning of government involvement in commemoration to take place.

Under the policy, anniversaries are categorised as either Tier 1 or Tier 2. Tier 1 (major) anniversaries relate to events whose impact was felt throughout the nation or changed New Zealand significantly. There should be a significant level of cross-government involvement in marking Tier 1 anniversaries. Tier 2 anniversaries concern events that were still important but had less national impact.

Occasionally, as with the centenary of the First World War from 2014-2019, dedicated funding may be available to support commemorations. However, most commemorative activity (particularly for Tier 2 anniversaries) is funded from within departmental baselines.

Anniversaries on the Government’s list should generally be:

  • of significance to the nation as a whole
  • of events that took place in New Zealand, involved New Zealanders or have a clear connection to New Zealand
  • a multiple of 25 years since the event in question (e.g. 25th, 50th, 100th anniversaries)
  • representative of the diversity of New Zealanders’ historical experiences.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 anniversaries for 2014-2021

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is currently looking at refreshing the commemorations policy and extending the list of anniversaries beyond 2021.

Other commemorations

Some commemorations take place annually: for example, Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and Anzac Day commemorates New Zealanders’ involvement in war.

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park also hosts a number of annual military commemorations. All national commemorations scheduled for the remainder of 2020 have been changed to Acts of Remembrance. See upcoming events on the Pukeahu news and events pages. 

Te Pūtake o te Riri, He Rā Maumhara, was observed for the first time in 2018. It is the national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars, and takes place on 28 October. Visit Te Puni Kōkiri’s website for more information about this commemoration, and about Te Pūtake o te Riri | Wars and Conflicts in New Zealand Fund.

There are many important anniversaries every year, and it is not possible to include them all on the government’s commemorations programme. Organisations outside government may decide to mark these anniversaries, and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage is always happy to hear about community-led commemorations. The Ministry may, for example, be able to publicise such commemorations through its online channels.

New Zealanders' views on commemoration

In 2019, Colmar Brunton conducted a public opinion survey for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, looking at New Zealanders’ views on commemoration. The final report on the survey's findings is available here (PDF 3.36 MB).

Updated on 24th August 2020