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LDS Attempt to Microfilm NZ Records Upsets Maori Leader
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND -- A failed proposal to have the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints microfilm about 100 years of New
Zealand birth, marriage and death records since 1848 has local Maori
officials upset, both because the proposal was even considered, and
because the alternative contract led to a fee increase on copies of
the genealogical records. Wellington Tenths Trust managing trustee
Peter Love condemned the proposal to microfilm records because he
said it would lead to Maori ancestors posthumous baptism into the LDS
Church.
Love, a Maori who manages the interests of Maori tribes in the land
on which Wellington was built, criticized New Zealand's Department of
Internal Affairs, saying the Trust was "alarmed that this proposal
even saw the light of day." He added that Maori's were not consulted
on how to preserve the records, but that the records are important to
them, "Whakapapa [genealogies] begins with the record of the birth of
an individual Maori, and this record is a closely held taonga
[treasure] which is generally not given out beyond the immediate
family. Least of all is it given out to a specific religion."
Under the Treaty of Waitangi, under which the Maori became citizens
of New Zealand, the government agreed to protect the Maori taonga,
which is believed to include their Whakapapa [genealogies].
Theoretically, an agreement with the LDS Church could lead to a
lawsuit against the government.
The LDS proposal would have cost New Zealand's government just
$500,000, and included a proposed effort by the New Zealand Society
of Genealogists to create a computer index to the records using large
numbers of volunteers.
However, the Department of Internal Affairs rejected the LDS proposal
for other reasons. Acting Internal Affairs Secretary Katrina Bach
acknowledged that the LDS proposal did have advantages, "the proposal
did offer an opportunity to preserve the original paper records from
further handling at relatively low cost," but said converting the
records to microfilm, rather than scanning them into a computer, was
not the ideal option.
Instead, New Zealand's cabinet asked for another option, one that
didn't involve the LDS Church, and recently signed a $3.8 million
contract with giant computer services firm EDS to digitize the
records. Acting Secretary Bach said EDS's proposal included data
security and strict controls over how private information, such as
adoption certificates, was handled.
But the more expensive EDS proposal came along with higher fees for
getting copies of the certificates. Identity document fees will now
rise to $30 from $9, and the Wellington Tenths Trust's Love says that
the new fees will fall disproportionately on Maori's because of the
cultural importance of genealogy, "It is a passionate cultural
necessity for most Maori to seek and find out about their own
whakapapa. The Crown is damaging Maori ability to secure this most
important information by lifting their charges for it," Love said.
The Maori incident may open a new difficulty for the LDS Church's
efforts to gather genealogical information and perform posthumous
ordinances for the dead. In the past decade, Jews have objected to
the practice of baptism for the dead, especially in the case of
Holocaust victims, claiming that the practice mirrored the forced
baptism of Jews in the middle ages. The Church has subsequently
removed the names of thousands of Jews from Church records because of
those objections.
The Church's proposal to microfilm records is similar to proposals it
has made in the past in many countries around the world. Under the
proposal, the Church keeps a master copy of the microfilmed records
and adds copies to its microfilm collections, which are available to
the public. The Church then extracts names from the records and
performs posthumous ordinances, generally for those born more than
110 years ago. However, members of the Church often submit the names
of those born more recently.
Sources:
$3.8m contract to digitise births and deaths
Otago NZ Daily Times 28Dec01 N1
Mormons offered records
Mormon proposal upsets Maori spokesman
Auckland NZ Herald (NZPA) 28Dec01 N1
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