New Zealand history
Our stories, told through the audiovisual records we hold in the collection.
1 to 36 of 54 items
3 February 2023
Around 10,000 people gathered at Te Tii Marae in 1934 for the first official commemoration of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
14 December 2022
14 December 2022 marks 100 years since the crew of the HMS Chatham presented the Chatham Cup to the New Zealand Football Association.
2 August 2022
A spotlight on some of the animated items in the collection, and where they fit in the history of animation in Aotearoa.
23 June 2022
Every year Ngā Taonga celebrates Matariki with a short video loop featuring items from the collections.
14 June 2022
The late Norman J. Hatch was a World War II combat cameraman who witnessed and filmed some of the most bitter fighting in the Pacific War.
7 April 2022
One of our long-time staff is leaving Ngā Taonga. Here David Klein takes a quick look at some favourite stories and items from the Archive.
8 March 2022
We are home to high-quality agriculture and horticulture industries. Much of what we produce is exported overseas and a big part of that game is advertising.
14 February 2022
For a long time, rail was the best (or only!) way to get around New Zealand, and the machinery and infrastructure attracted a large following.
30 November 2021
As an island nation, Aotearoa New Zealand has had a large number of maritime disasters.
7 September 2021
An interesting picture and intriguing recording sent David Klein on a journey of his own across the desert, time and different heritage sites.
24 August 2021
Through our archival recordings, one of our Te Arawa staff learned about the history of the eruption of Mt Tarawera.
22 June 2021
You’ve seen Ngā Taonga material much more than you realise. Our Customer Supply Team works with dozens of productions a year.
23 February 2021
More than a century of changes in Dunedin can be seen on screen when we compare old and new footage.
21 April 2020
Māori and their stories have a long history in New Zealand moving image.
16 March 2020
If you know two things about Lady Pokai, it’s that she loves te reo Māori and she loves Ngāti Porou.
12 September 2019
Men are milling about on the decks shifting supplies around, but take a closer look and the reality sinks in.
3 April 2019
Did you know that Horowhenua was home to an international award-winning animation studio? Morrow Productions was formed in Levin by Bob Morrow and Mike Walker in 1950.
13 March 2019
Sir Hector Busby - Bridge builder, kaumātua, celestial navigator, waka builder.
12 November 2018
Origins of the Maoriland film company, based in Ōtaki, Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara Wellington region.
23 January 2018
The sound recordings made at pōwhiri in January 1946 to welcome home the men of the (28) Māori Battalion, are the focus of a new online exhibition launched this week.
9 October 2017
12th of October 1917, 843 New Zealanders were killed in just a few hours near Passchendaele during World War I.
22 September 2017
Temperance campaigners who were keen to see prohibition of alcohol, knew many women would likely support them if they were able to vote.
17 August 2017
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision has recently acquired a set of Insight documentaries, spanning 1997-2000, deposited by Adriann Smith, a former Radio New Zealand producer.
7 July 2017
The story of the New Zealand dollar switching over to decimal currency on the 10th of July 1967.
22 June 2017
The home side featured legendary New Zealand rugby names like George Nepia and Cliff Porter.
20 February 2017
One great thing about working at an audiovisual archive is helping people connect with the stories and faces of their past
13 February 2017
Historic figures have been brought to life in a new exhibition of 23 compelling portraits, accompanied by archival sound recordings from the RNZ collection at Ngā Taonga.
10 February 2017
Through sound recordings, Sarah Johnston looks at the lives of New Zealand's early Chinese community.
7 December 2016
This is how United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, described the 7th of December 1941.
9 November 2016
A look back at New Zealand's relationship to Presidents of the United States of America
28 October 2016
This Saturday is the 80th anniversary of national commercial radio in New Zealand, which started with station 1ZB Auckland on 29 October 1936.
16 October 2016
Eighty years ago today New Zealander Jean Batten became the first person to fly from Britain to New Zealand.
6 October 2016
Blenheimer, Marque Vue, Cold Duck. If you are over a certain age those names of early New Zealand wines may bring back a few memories.
12 September 2016
15 September 2016 marked the centenary of the New Zealand Division’s entry into fighting on the Somme in Northern France in 1916.
1 September 2016
This Tuesday was the 145th birthday of Lord Ernest Rutherford, who was born near Nelson in 1871.
