Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōna te ngahere

Ko te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga, nōna te Ao

The bird who feeds on miro has the forest

The bird who feeds on knowledge has the world

Nau mai, haere mai ki Tāmaki Herenga Waka.

Ka nui te mihi ki a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei te iwi mana whenua.

Tihei Mauri Ora!

AHI Mission Statement

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is situated amongst many volcanoes on an isthmus that is flanked by the Manukau and Waitematā harbours. The cones punctuate the skyline and the ocean is never far from view. These iconic features of the whenua have not only shaped the landscape but also the many peoples who have settled in this unique environment over centuries.

Welcome to the Auckland History Initiative. This research collaboration focuses on understanding the physical and cultural development of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland as well as the wider Auckland region extending from Northland to the Waikato, and Auckland’s connections with international and global networks of trade, governance and culture.

In order to advance that understanding the AHI takes several approaches. These include:

  • To increase students’ engagement with Auckland history, to stimulate their interest in and knowledge of their immediate surroundings and to enhance their employability
  • To build relationships between the University of Auckland and Auckland’s Iwi and GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums)
  • To continue to establish relationships and research collaborations in the area of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland history across disciplines and faculties at the University of Auckland
  • To enhance public outreach by hosting public events focused on inviting discussion on the history of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • To promote and support research into Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland history through an online platform and associated social media.

Read our AHI Summer Scholars work below

The good old trams

The good old trams

by Sam Turner-O’Keeffe*
Auckland has certainly improved its public transport system over recent decades. Its proponents will point to its new electrified trains, its Northern Busway and the relocation of its central city transport station to Britomart as all major successes. Yet despite those advancements Auckland remains indisputably a congested, car-obsessed nightmare.

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Auckland’s Sportswomen: a Conduit for Social Tension

Auckland’s Sportswomen: a Conduit for Social Tension

by Katia Kennedy*
Women’s sport has long been a subject of contention. Since the late 1880s, Auckland sportswomen have faced backlash, criticism and a general lack of support within their chosen sports. Where women’s sports have developed immensely since then, women’s involvement in male-dominated sports remained contentious.

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The Rise of Professional Theatre in Auckland

The Rise of Professional Theatre in Auckland

by Anna McCardle*
This first article will consider the rise of professional theatre in late 1960s to early 1970s Auckland. I will track the progress of how a national call for professionalisation in New Zealand theatre set the wheels of change in motion here, resulting in the emergence of Auckland professional theatre companies like Mercury Theatre and Theatre Corporate.

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