Index New Zealand anniversary

Index New Zealand (INNZ) is marking 25 years of being available online. INNZ is a searchable database from National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, which includes indexed records of articles from around 1,000 NZ journals, magazines and newspapers, published from the first half of the century to the present day.

Ref: 80-BIN76, article from the New Zealand Herald, Sir George Grey Special Collections

There are currently 760,000 indexed articles in the database covering a wide range of topics. Abstracts are available for the majority of the records. Improvements behind the scenes have made searching much easier and more efficient. Subject headings and names list in Te Reo Māori have also been added, broadening the depth and value of this online service.Check out the INNZ blog to find out more about the work of the  INNZ team, how they do it, and how to use it.

Kites for Matariki

In ancient Māori traditions, kite flying could symbolize the connections between earth and the heavens; kites were flown to celebrates the rising of Matariki and the beginning of the Māori New Year. Because of my interest in building a kite from traditional materials to fly this Matariki, I have been researching Māori kites and kite-making.

Several designs of kites are described in the literature.  For example, the ethnographer Eldson Best in his Games and Pastimes of the Māori (1925) describes six kites, their design and usage. 

Titiri, a Bay of Islands chief who travelled to England, in 1818 drew several pictures of kites.

Ref: 7-A3168, 1818, Sir George Grey Special Collections

In this drawing, the bird-shaped kite is probably a sacred manu aute, with aute bark covering the frame. 
The diamond-shaped kite is a manu pātiki, built to represent a flounder.
The top and bottom kites in this picture are probably ūpoku tangata, children’s kites, made from ūpoku tangata (cutty grass) with a rush frame.