Uncorked: History lessons

“If you don’t know where you’re from, you don’t know where you are.” This thought popped to mind on Saturday morning while taking a guided tour of the past as viewed in the present.

Marlborough Heritage Festival events rolled out the previous day and will continue through this weekend. I joined the Hikoi with Dr Peter Meihana around Blenheim Town Centre to, as the description teased, “discover how Māori used the landscape and areas … before Europeans arrived in the Wairau.”

At university, I majored in history. A core tenet I learned is that names, dates and events do not change, but interpretations do. Heard the expressions “history is written by the winners” and “everyone is the hero of their own story”? The framing can filter the facts.

As such, heritage – history – comprises interwoven threads. Newcomers see a lot of loose ends while scanning the tapestry. For me, at least, and likely others as well, the hikoi helped tie some stray yarns together.

Peter is a vibrant storyteller: Over the course of two hours and six stops, he described moments and figures immortalised in monuments, mountains, waterways and symbols which a modern Marlburian might glimpse on any given day. He did so vividly, in rich detail.

It’s not for me to recount his accounts. I wasn’t taking notes – I was absorbing and, via mind’s eye, visualising what Peter shared. I remember what resonated with me, which might not be what resonates with you.

There’s another chance to hear him, along with Amber Aranui and Monica Tromp, on Friday at 5:30pm at Small Town Winery. And, of course, there are a dozen other heritage happenings before the festival finishes.

Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it – you probably know that maxim. Put a different way: By knowing what transpired, we know more clearly what’s transpiring. These days, we need all the understanding we can get.

Email [email protected] to reach the author.