New Zealand Government
New Zealand Government | Te Kawanatanga o Aotearoa
Note:

For everything you need to know about COVID-19, go to covid19.govt.nz

Unite against COVID-19

  1. Home /
  2. History, culture and heritage

History, culture and heritage

  • NZ’s history

    • Places to start researching NZ history

      Search old newspapers, find archives and websites on local and national history.

    • Military history, records and medals

      Search the records and medals of New Zealanders at war and get sources for doing your own military research.

    • Get a copy of a WW1 service record

      Archives New Zealand is in the process of putting the military records of everyone who served in World War I online.

    • Māori history

      Māori are tangata whenua — people of the land. They came to Aotearoa from Polynesia in the 13th century and created a new language and culture.

  • Māori language, culture and heritage

    • Te Reo Māori (Māori language)

      Māori became one of NZ's 3 official languages in 1987. It's a taonga (treasure) that our government works to protect.

    • Māori culture and heritage

      Māori culture is a big part of NZ’s identity, so respecting, preserving and promoting it is vital.

  • Research your family history

    • Search historical birth, death and marriage records

      To find your whakapapa (genealogy), you can search old birth, death and marriage records.

    • Search for family history records in New Zealand

      You might be able to trace your family’s history in NZ through genealogy websites, old newspapers, or ships’ passenger lists.

    • Get someone else’s birth, death, or marriage certificate

      New Zealand birth, death, marriage, civil union and name change certificates are public records. In most cases, they can be ordered by anyone.

    • Get help to find birth, death and marriage records

      If you do not know the year of a record you're looking for, you can ask Births, Deaths and Marriages to search for it.

  • Treaty of Waitangi claims

    • Settling historical Treaty of Waitangi claims

      Claims for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi before 1992 are known as historical claims. Settlements aim to resolve these claims by providing some redress to claimant groups.

    • Pre-negotiations - choosing representatives and Terms of Negotiation

      Claimant groups will choose people to represent them in negotiations with the Crown. The representatives will sign Terms of Negotiation with the Crown on the group’s behalf.

    • Negotiations - getting a Deed of Settlement

      The details of a settlement between the Crown and a claimant group are worked out during the negotiations part of the process.

    • Legislation - making the settlement law

      When the terms of a settlement have been agreed on, Parliament will pass a law to make it legally binding.

    • Implementation - after a settlement is complete

      When a Treaty settlement is complete, the claimant group will receive the assets that were agreed on during negotiations.

    • Funding

      Funding is available to help pay the costs associated with negotiating Treaty of Waitangi claims.

  • Treaty settlements

    • Recent Treaty settlements

      The most recent settlements are linked to from this page.

    • The Red Book

      The Red Book — Healing the past, building the future — is a guide to Treaty of Waitangi claims and negotiations with the Crown.

    • Quarterly reports

      Find past quarterly reports for the Office of Treaty Settlements here.

    • Parihaka and the Crown – healing the past

      The Crown and the Parihaka community have been working together to reconcile their relationship and support Parihaka to achieve its aspirations.

    • Treaty settlements negotiations - natural resources redress

      The Government has developed guidelines to help when looking at iwi claims around natural resources, harbours and areas of the coast as part of the historical Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.

    • Find a Treaty settlement

      Find details of historic Treaty settlements, including PDFs of settlement documents.

Contact NZ government

  • A-Z of government agencies
  • If you're not sure who to contact

About this website

  • About Govt.nz
  • The scope of Govt.nz
  • Feedback about Govt.nz

Using this website

  • Terms of use
  • Privacy
  • Copyright

Back to top

New Zealand Government New Zealand Government

Crown Copyright 2021

Creative Commons 4.0 International Licence

Unless indicated otherwise, all content on Govt.nz is licensed for re-use under a Creative Commons 4.0 International Licence