Source: Ministry for Culture and Heritage
“Every story we preserve is a gift to future generations, helping them understand who we are and where we come from,” says Secretary for Culture and Heritage Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae.
“That’s why I’m delighted to celebrate the recipients of the 2026 Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho New Zealand Oral History Grants, whose work will help keep these voices and experiences alive.”
Seventeen community oral history projects will receive a share of $144,215 through this year’s funding round.
From preserving Kiribati cultural knowledge to recording refugee experiences and the lives of people living with Long Covid, the projects highlight the breadth of communities and experiences that shape Aotearoa New Zealand.
“This year’s recipients will capture accounts of migration, language revitalisation, community leadership, arts and culture, climate resilience, health, sport and social change.
“Funding will also support projects preserving the voices behind three decades of Ngāti Hine FM, recording the experiences of Samoan families who settled in Wellington before the Dawn Raids, and documenting the lives of women who grew up on the Denniston Plateau.
“Together, these projects will preserve knowledge, perspectives and lived experiences that deepen our understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand and ensure they remain accessible for generations to come,” says Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae.
Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho grants are selected by an independent panel of experts. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage administers the grants, which were established by the Australian Sesquicentennial Gift Trust in 1990 to mark 150 years since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The grants support community-based oral history projects that reflect a wide range of identities, communities and perspectives.
Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho funding rounds are offered every two years. The next opportunity to apply for funding will open in 2028.
2026 Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho New Zealand Oral History Grant recipients
- Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Ōrongomai Tū Tonu, $4,000
- Kiribati Federation Aotearoa Charitable Trust, Te Maneaba: Preserving Kiribati knowledge through elders’ voices, $6,571
- Paul Roy, The Pioneers of NZ Hang Gliding, $9,960
- Cilla Harnett, Tāhuhu Kōrero: Ngāti Te Whiti, $10,980
- Richard Greissman, Founding Members of the Child Action Poverty Group of New Zealand, $6,742
- Jacqui Tisch, In Our Own Words: Voices of adult literacy learners, $9,100
- Dr Emma-Jean Kelly, Neurodivergents Talk Neurodivergence, $7,893
- Chakara Lim, Acts of Memory New Zealand: Cambodian migrants, $5,000
- Ivan Yeo, From Refuge to Belonging: Oral histories of Mount Roskill’s refugee communities, $10,000
- Leanne Hiroti, The 1980s Heyday of Shearing in the Mighty Maniototo, $9,617
- Dr Grace Bateman and Paul Garbett, Long Covid – The Long Battle, $9,900
- Dan McLeod, Ngā Reo o Ngāti Hine FM: Recording the voices behind three decades of reo irirangi/iwi radio, $9,980
- Julie Benjamin, Girls of Denniston: Growing up on the hill, $5,000
- Ashleigh McLarin, Anna Scorey and Katrina Tamaira, Clay Hands Aotearoa oral history project: Stage 1, $9,000
- Nga Uri o Maikuku raua ko Huatakaroa 1891 Trust, Ngā Reo o Maikuku rāua ko Huatakaroa, $10,472
- Lewis Ratapu, Te Whakarukea o Tāwhirimātea: A cultural understanding of flood mitigation & climate resilience in Te Wairoa, $10,000
- Fara Iati, Talanoa I le Mativa: Reclaiming ‘poverty’ through the stories of Wellington Samoan migrants from the early 1970s, $10,000