ASHA is pleased to announce that this year’s annual conference will be held in Russell, in the beautiful Bay of Islands in northern New Zealand. The conference will commence with a welcome function on the evening of 26 September 2022 and finish with a gala dinner on 30 September 2022. The conference venue is the historic Duke of Marlborough Hotel. A key feature of the conference will be a field trip by boat out into the Bay of Islands, visiting significant archaeological sites of the area. We are pleased to announce that Dame Anne Salmond is our keynote speaker, and we are grateful for the support of Kororāreka Marae, as Hau Kainga and Te Ahi Kaa, in hosting this conference.
The conference theme is ‘the archaeology of interaction.’ The Bay of Islands has been a site of significant human interaction since the beginning of human settlement of the area. This began with early Māori interaction with the environment and between different iwi. In the 18th century, it was the location of early Māori interaction with Europeans, including Captain James Cook and Marion du Fresne. The conference is particularly timely, as 2022 is the 250th anniversary of Marion de Fresne’s visit to this part of Aotearoa. In the early 19th century, Kororāreka/Russell became the site of ongoing interaction between Māori and Pākehā, as people from all over the world converged here to take advantage of new trading and commercial opportunities. At the same time, missionaries were pursuing their own ends in the Bay of Islands, as too was the British Crown. In 1840, Waitangi (just over the water from Russell) was the administrative centre, and the site of the first signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi.
The call for session proposals is now open, and proposals relating to the theme of interaction – with the environment, between different people, with material culture, between disciplines, etc – are sought. Variations on the traditional session format are welcome – for example, three minute papers, discussion panels, etc. Session proposals should be sent to conference@asha.org.au. The call for session proposals closes on 31 May 2022. Registration and the call for papers will open on 3 June. In the meantime, more information about visiting and exploring the Bay of Islands can be found on the conference website: https://asha.org.au/2022-asha-conference/
Of course, all of this is covid-permitting. Currently, vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents can travel to Aotearoa, with no need to self-isolate on arrival. At the time of writing, however, they must have a negative pre-departure covid test and must self-test again upon arrival in Aotearoa. These requirements may well change – if you are travelling from Australia to attend the conference, the most up-to-date information can be found here: https://covid19.govt.nz/international-travel/how-to-enter-new-zealand/travel-with-australia/
Please direct any queries to: conference@asha.org.au
The New Zealand Historical Association 