My story, your story, our stories
Everyone has a migration story, whether it’s the story of their ancestors’ journeys hundreds of years ago, their great-grandparents’ voyage to early Aotearoa New Zealand, or in more recent years, the story of why they left their place of birth to find a new home.
This activity encourages children, their whānau, and the wider community to come together to share their own personal stories, or those in their communities and rohe. This activity is about recognising and understanding each other’s personal contexts, and valuing diversity in communities.
Holding a local event and inviting others to join you to share migration and settlement stories could make this activity even more meaningful. Pioneering companies, or long standing local businesses, could also be encouraged to share the stories of how or why they established themselves in the local community.
Suggested activity
Discuss your family history
Identify the stories in your family
Organise to share these stories amongst family, friends, or as part of a community event
Make a record of the stories - a story could be written down or captured in a small video – whatever you decide best captures the story for future generations
Share your stories with your family, your friends, and possibly at your local library
For some communities, stories about creation, connections to the land and sea, historical accounts, traditional knowledge and teachings have been kept alive through storytelling.
These stories are often the fabric of a community’s local history, knowledge, and culture, and some are thousands of years old.
Many of them have been passed down from generation to generation without ever being written down.