Stories of South Taranaki life preserved for future
A new collection of oral history stories from South Taranaki people is now open at Aotea Utanganui – Museum of South Taranaki.
The project, which was funded by the Taranaki Regional Council, to collect interviews of people’s memories of growing up in South Taranaki, began in February 2022 and is part of the museum’s permanent displays.
Stories of 52 people’s lives in South Taranaki have been recorded so far, but museum team leader Luana Paamu hopes the project will be ongoing.
There are a few people she is still hoping can be persuaded to share their stories.
‘‘We had quite a few people who were suggested who said no, some who thought they weren’t good enough,’’ she said.
Paamu did many of the interviews in Pātea and Te Aroha Hohaia recorded the memories of people in Hāwera and some smaller communities.
‘‘You could tell when they were trying to remember, and when they talked about stuff that was very close to their hearts, it just flowed, and you can hear the passion in their voices,’’ Paamu said.
Doing the interviews while Covid restrictions were still in place was another challenge, particularly as many of the people being interviewed were older and vulnerable.
Museum visitors can select from the stories and listen to excerpts from the interviews through a sound dome.
The full length interviews are also being broadcast by Access Radio and are also available online, she said.
A low-key launch for the project was held on Wednesday, and a larger event for the participants is planned for February 15.
Taranaki Regional Council chair Charlotte Littlewood got to try out the interactive display and hear some of the stories on Wednesday.
‘‘History is not just about understanding who you are but how you got to be that way, its places like this that help us understand that,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s so important as we go into the future and all the different decisions we have to make, understanding where we have come from is really important, and hearing people talk is helping us understand where they come from.’’
Museum trust chair
Roseanne Oakes said preserving people’s stories was important because information they thought was common knowledge was lost to the next generation without the stories to pass it on.
The collection of recordings also includes some interviews with South Taranaki people done in the 1990s by Hamish Guthrie.