Wednesday 6 November 2024, 12:10pm to 1pm
Taiwhanga Kauhau — Auditorium, (lower ground) National Library Wellington. Entrance on Aitken Street or on Zoom.
Reflecting on his recent general history of Aotearoa New Zealand, Professor Michael Belgrave revisits British intervention in 1840, the creation of the Treaty of Waitangi, the role of the New Zealand Company, and how the connections between them matter in 2024.
Making sense of our connections with the past
While writing his general history of the country, Michael Belgrave was surprised to find that when he reached the end, he found himself back in 1840. He returned to the humanitarian moment that governed British intervention in New Zealand, not only in the creation of the Treaty of Waitangi but also in the establishment of its erstwhile nemesis, the New Zealand Company.
While it is overly simplistic to see much of New Zealand’s history as a tension between these apparent opposites, he became increasingly interested in what they had in common, with their emphasis on rights, relationships, and obligations between the state and the citizen, and the state and iwi. This talk will explore these connections and why they matter in 2024.
Public history talks
These free Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. They are usually held on the first Wednesday of the month, March to November.
The talks are recorded and you can find them at the Apple store, Spotify and Podbean #newzealandhistory.
Listen to previous public history talks
About the speaker
Michael Belgrave is Professor Emeritus of History at Massey University. He was research manager of the Waitangi Tribunal and has continued to work on Treaty of Waitangi research and settlements. More recently he has been involved in negotiating the historical aspects of treaty settlements with iwi. He has published widely on treaty and Māori history.
His 2017 Dancing with the King, an exploration of diplomacy and peace-making in the decades between the Waikato War and the opening of the King Country, was shortlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and won the Ernest Scott Prize. He has worked in advisory groups supporting the implementation of the new national history curriculum.