The National Archives

New Zealand

The national archives of New Zealand and its sister organization, the National Library of New Zealand, reflect the 20th-century influence of biculturalism on the interpretation of much older archival material for the purposes of legitimating the nation in view of shared Anglo-Māori history. Although the imperial records donated by Alexander Turnbull were not originally collected to write a national history they have been reinterpreted to explain cultural conflicts in an era of empire-building. Anecdotes from former Soviet Republics such as Uzbekistan evince this mentality of politicization of national archives; that the archives may contain dangerous truth the regime must contain.