2010 New Zealand Family History Fair

I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.    Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the evening (Sign).

I then specifically greet you: Fiona Brooker, President of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, your immediate predecessor, David Bryant and members of the Society’s Council; Your Worship Bob Simcock, Mayor of Hamilton and Anthea Simcock; kaumatua; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and me to the opening of the inaugural New Zealand Family History Fair.

I have been asked to officially open this Fair and just before doing so, would like to make a few comments on the importance of knowing your individual and family heritage and the part that that knowledge plays in our identity and in our future.

I am speaking today as Governor-General, and as Patron of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. However, I am also speaking as one of many New Zealanders who has taken an interest in ancestry.  Susan and I can be said to be just an ordinary middle-aged New Zealand couple, but here is a slice out of the last fortnight

By background, I am of Fiji-Indian descent. My grandparents, all four, came to Fiji from India and made their lives there.  I still have their girmitya shipping papers showing they came from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh near Allahabad in central India.

My parents were both born in Fiji and after being married, they migrated to Auckland where I was born and raised.  Last weekend we attended, in San Francisco, an extended family reunion. Many of the Fiji born descendents having migrated to the United States in the last 30 years.  There were 60 plus in attendance and in the current generations there were people of Indian, Samoan, Mexican as well as European and black Americans present.

My wife Susan's family history also spans more than one country - England, Scotland and Australia. Some 10 days before Susan and I and two of our children and grandchildren spent time at Bury St Edmonds in the graveyard of the Abbey, looking and finding gravestones of forebears who lived and died there before their children migrated to Australia in the 1820’s.

Although our two family histories are clearly unique, as are the histories of almost every person, they do share similarities—similarities we share with all New Zealanders.

New Zealand’s first inhabitants, nga tangata whenua, share this history too, although a part of their story has been connected with this land now for hundreds of years. But there was a time when their ancestors also set out, from Polynesia, to seek a new land and ended on these shores.

The tangata whenua were then joined by the original British settlers, and then by people from around the world. Today New Zealand is made up of people hailing, as well, from other European nations, from Asia, the Americas, the Pacific, Australia and Africa.

However far back we wish to look, whether we came here recently or centuries ago, ours are stories of people who have sought a better life in a new land. As the noted New Zealand historian, the late Dr Michael King, once wrote: "In a country inhabited for a mere one thousand years, everybody is an immigrant or a descendent of an immigrant."

The obvious popularity of this 2010 New Zealand Family History Fair is evidence that we do not forget our background, our heritage, or as it called in this country’s first language – our whakapapa.

One of the key themes I have offered during my term as Governor General is a greater understanding of New Zealand’s cultural diversity.

The latest New Zealand Census in 2006 confirmed that the definition of what it means to be a New Zealander is changing.

Whereas 30 years ago, 86 percent of New Zealanders were European, today, just over 67 percent identify as European. Of the major ethnic groups, our Asian population is shown to be that which is fastest growing. Between 2001 and 2006 it increased by nearly 50 percent to more than 350,000 people. And those identifying with Pacific people had the second largest increase from the 2001 Census, up nearly 15 percent to 265,000 people.

I am sure that the results of the 2011 Census will further confirm that increasing diversity which is influencing our nation's present and future.

More than ever before, I have the view that New Zealand culture will be defined by the rich and colourful histories of our diverse migrant heritage.

We can today see the changing face of this country reflected in many aspects of New Zealand life. We see it in the ethnicities of our top sports-people and leaders, in our education system, and more frequently, in our general communities.

In almost four years in the Governor-General role, Susan and I have been pleased to attend a variety of festivals that further reflect the diversity of this nation. These include Chinese New Year, the Diwali Festival of Lights, Waitangi Day, and Good Friday to mention just a few.

I believe the New Zealand Society of Genealogists has a role to play in helping ensure that all migrants, both recent and historic, have the tools they need to trace and record their own heritage so that their voices can come to be heard in New Zealand today.  

The Society’s initiative in organising this first Family History Fair is accordingly to be commended. With successive generations being born here, and with our family histories deepening as a result, I am sure that this event will become increasingly relevant and useful in the years ahead.  The point is well made in the theme for the Fair which in Māori says:

 “Tohatohatia ngā wā ō mua ki tēna te wā a muri ake nei.” This translates to saying “Sharing your past for the future.”

With that note having been struck, it is with great pleasure that declare the inaugural New Zealand Family History Fair officially open.

And with that formality completed, I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.   

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.