Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Local Focus: Rotorua Heritage Week impacts our future

By Violet French
Video Journalist, Rotorua, NZH Local Focus·NZ Herald·
29 Nov, 2022 12:28 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rotorua Library's celebrated Heritage Week - with locals digging into the past to see how it’s shaping the present.

Rotorua Library/Te Aka Mauri celebrated its third Heritage Week last week, encouraging locals to dig into the past to see how it shapes their present and future.

Rotorua Library's heritage and research lead, Abby Wharne, believes the past can be found in the present day and is all about community.

"The initial idea of this event was for it to be a community-generated thing," she said.

"We wanted to spark the idea and wanted other groups to join in.

"I feel Te Aka Mauri is a bit of a magic[al] place. We are so connected to different groups - iwi, the Multicultural Council - all of these groups are just part of what we do."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

For Wharne, who's originally from the United Kingdom, understanding the past allows her to feel at home in Rotorua.

She calls herself "a real heritage geek" and says engaging with heritage has changed her.

"It has helped me understand who I am and feel grounded and connected, whether that be [to] my own group, say, my own ancestors back home in the UK, or [in] moving here.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I've been so fortunate to learn about the local history, stories and narratives, and feel like this is my new home because of that. For me, that is the importance of local Heritage Week: having a sense of home and connection."

Author Philip Andrews has documented much of Rotorua's history in thirteen different books, and often finds himself walking alongside history - on almost every street corner, in fact.

"It's an added dimension as you walk around the town, for instance, to say, 'Woah, look at that name on that building', and, 'Who was he? What did he do? What did he own? What was his shop?' There's history just in the bricks and concrete."

The library's events throughout the week included traditional arts and stories of Te Arawa, sing-alongs, games, an open day at the Settlers and Steam Museum, and talks by the Multicultural Society.

"It's so many things here, right? So that's what we try to reflect in our event.

Discover more

New Zealand

Local Focus: Rising stars face the music - 'Our work is going to pay off'

21 Nov 07:41 AM
New Zealand

Local Focus: The doors are still closed, but Rotorua Museum is open to suggestions

21 Nov 11:48 PM
New Zealand

Local Focus: Pushing Play in the Bay

13 Nov 11:05 PM
New Zealand

Local Focus: QE Health gears up for a new beginning

07 Nov 10:18 PM

"So, we've got someone from Te Arawa talking about Māori weaponry and what that means to him, and his philosophies and how it's guided his life. We've got people from the migrant community.

"We've got some confronting history, so people will be able to go to the Māori Land Court and learn more about themselves and the troubled history of colonialism and how that has impacted their lives.

"That connection to history, that's what I think helps us know more and connect with each other, because it's so hard to know everyone's story unless you really look at resources, listen to people's stories and engage."

Wharne wants people to take away from Heritage Week knowledge of what came before us and carry it into the future.

"I think it's about taking a step back, listening, being mindful and taking the time to understand the past and each other, and that really is what has made us who we are today and where we are today. The current situation is so entirely informed by that.

"I hope people take that away with them, and when they engage in activities and with different people, they are mindful of that richness."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

17 Jun 04:05 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

17 Jun 04:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

17 Jun 03:16 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

17 Jun 04:05 AM

A motorcyclist overtook a car and struck Paige Johnson on a pedestrian crossing.

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

17 Jun 04:00 AM
‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

17 Jun 03:16 AM
Why Te Arawa's marae relay is becoming a community staple

Why Te Arawa's marae relay is becoming a community staple

17 Jun 01:24 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP