Applications Invited For Oral History And History Grants For Community-led Projects

Applications are now open for two annual history grants administered by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage: Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho, Piki Ake! Kake Ake! Oral History Grants and the Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grants.

Manatū Taonga encourages anyone undertaking community-led history projects to apply for these funding opportunities, with projects exploring Māori and Pacific history particularly welcome.

Once again, we are pleased that the application forms and terms and conditions for both funds are available in te reo Māori and English. Information about the oral history grants is also available in Samoan and Tongan.

Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho, Pike Ake! Kake Ake! New Zealand Oral History Grants are available for community-led oral history projects which reflect diverse identities and perspectives relating to the history of Aotearoa and its close relationships with the Pacific. There is around $100,000 available, with successful applicants generally receiving between $5,000 and $10,000 towards their projects. Applications for oral history projects conducted in any language are welcome.

Money for these grants was gifted to Aotearoa from the Australian government in 1990 to honour 150 years of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

"Since 1991, $2.3 million of funding has been awarded towards almost 500 diverse oral history projects," says Manatū Taonga Pou Mataaho o Te Hua Deputy Chief Executive, Delivery (Acting) Neill Atkinson. "These are the only grants in Aotearoa which specifically support oral history projects, empowering communities to record, store and celebrate their history."

Over its 30 years, the grants have supported a wide array of projects, with 2021 recipients exploring topics including the lives of contemporary graffiti artists, Hungarians in New Zealand, Te Arawa’s Covid-19 response and tohorā (whale) encounters in Kaitaia. Pacific stories which received funding in 2021 included accounts of Tuvaluan and Tokelauan families moving to Aotearoa to escape sea level rise, the story of Falema’i Lesa’s journey to appeal her visa overstay conviction in 1982, and Fagatua, the indigenous wrestling of Tokelau.

Applications close on 25 October 2022.

For more information and the application form please see: https://mch.govt.nz/funding-nz-culture/ministry-grants-awards/new-zealand-oral-history-awards

Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grants support historians, researchers and writers working on non-fiction written projects that will significantly enhance our understanding of our country’s past. Each year around $100,000 is awarded, with successful applicants receiving up to $12,000 towards their projects.

"Since its inception in 1990, more than $3 million dollars has gone toward supporting over 300 projects that bring the history of Aotearoa to life," says Neill Atkinson.

"Traditionally, funding has been awarded for book or web projects with a wide target readership. We are particularly keen to receive applications for projects relating to the history of Māori and Pacific communities. If your topic is regional, or about your family, you’re welcome to apply, we just need to know how the project would enhance understanding of the nation’s history."

Recipients of the grants in 2021 explored topics such as the history of Flying Nun Records, Chinese and New Zealand relations in the 1930s and 40s, and the lives of prominent New Zealanders including architect Rewi Thompson and poet Ruth Dallas.

Applications close on 15 October 2022.

For more information and the application form please see: https://mch.govt.nz/funding-nz-culture/ministry-grants-awards/new-zealand-history-research-trust

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