Signdna - Deaf National Archive - Aotearoa New Zealand

SignDNA is really excited to launch a brand new section to the archive: IMAGES. This section will contain lots of photos, slides and other pictures further developing the archive and the breadth of information it contains. We are passionate about film and video but there are many other items that enrich the archive and give a broad understanding of Deaf history and culture. This new section - www.signdna.org/images – is being launched with over 100 team photos. Those taonga items have been provided by Manawatu Deaf Society, the Margaret Coutts collection, and Auckland Deaf Society. We look forward to adding more images in this section in the next few months. Keep an eye out for them and your club/group's collection!

Pop over to the PUBLICATIONS section on SignDNA! All the old issues of Ephpheta from the 1970s and 1980s are now on the archive! The newsletter was originally called the 'Catholic Deaf Newsletter' before being renamed as 'Ephpheta' in 1979. It is now called the 'Deaf Southern Star'. The idea of a newsletter for deaf Catholics in the 1970s came via a discussion between Daniel Beech and Father Brian Wegrzyn in Palmerston North. Daniel somehow found the time to co-edit the Catholic Deaf newsletter along his other demanding duties at the time as the national secretary of the N.Z. Amateur Deaf Sports Association, Vice-President of the N.Z. Association of the Deaf, secretary of the Manawatu Deaf Society, Chairman of the New Zealand Catholic Deaf Association and Chairman of the reunion committee for the St. Dominic’s School, Feilding!

It's Pride Month, and we have a cool clip from 2001 where Q***r Nation meets a sporty le***an with nimble fingers! Lorraine talks about her identity, involvement with Deaf sports, performing and access, emphasising that Deaf people are really no different from hearing people. View video at https://signdna.org/video/deaf-diversity-queer-nation/

OLD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES WANTED! SignDNA has added over 300 newspaper articles related to the New Zealand Deaf community to the archive. Go on and have a look! www.signdna.org/articles

Newspaper articles are a valuable recording of NZ Deaf history, useful for students and researchers as well as shining a light on Deaf news that might have been missed or forgotten; news that we can investigate for the archive.

We're still not finished! We still have more newspaper articles to add, and there are many more missing. Do you have any old 'Deaf-related' newspaper articles at home? SignDNA would love to borrow them! We will scan and return them back to you. Please get in touch with us. Email: [email protected]

NZSL version: https://bit.ly/4bnZpAp

If you've visited the SignDNA website recently, you might have noticed a new purple icon on the main page. This means an item leads to an external site (e.g. an online newspaper article, or online video that is not hosted on the archive). Have a look at https://signdna.org/articles/ to see how this works. This helps us to collaborate with other archives and makes it easier for you to find what you are looking for. Enjoy exploring Deaf history with SignDNA!

Ka pai! Warm congratulations to our neighbours on their launch of an Australian digital archive of deaf history this morning! Go on, have a look at ‘Deaf History Collections’ – https://deafhistorycollections.com.au/

Wellington Deaf Society has recently released a new History section on its website after two years of digitising its materials! It’s been a privilege for SignDNA to be able to provide its expertise and support. We look forward to assisting other Deaf Clubs and groups and on their digitisation journey too! Enjoy exploring WDS’s documents, newsletters, minutes, reports, memorabilia, photos and NZSL timeline at https://www.wds.org.nz/our-history/

Aotearoa New Zealand is known for its innovative spirit; its 'no.8 wire' mentality. It comes as no surprise that we were the first to introduce a light system for the 1989 World Deaf Games in the athletics and swimming races, created by a Christchurch hearing man! Article at https://signdna.org/article/deaf-athletes-see-red/ cc Deaflympics

40 years ago, seven Japanese deaf climbers were ordered off Mt Cook by the then Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. Would the removal of ‘handicapped’ climbers be acceptable today? Most certainly not! Sir Edmund Hillary complained saying that he supported the deaf climbers. Hop onto the SignDNA link and have a read. And its related articles: https://signdna.org/article/precedent-worry-in-stopping-climb/