A biography of Lake Tutira

Join us for July's Public History Talk with environmental historian Jonathan West. Jonathan will sketch Lake Tūtira’s history from formation to today, following the traces of Herbert Guthrie Smith, whose obsessive records of the changes witnessed while farming by the lake made him a founder of environmental history in New Zealand.

Join us in person or online for this event. (Register for a link on our website)

Learning from the past
In this talk about Lake Tūtira in central Hawke's Bay, Jonathan West will reflect on the records of Herbert Guthrie Smith who in 1882 took over the the lease of a sheep station near the lake. Guthrie Smith’s first book opened with the lines: ‘The lake on Tutira may be considered the heart of the run. It is the centre of all the station’s life and energy.’ A keen naturalist, Guthrie Smith preserved the lake as a sanctuary for his beloved birds.

But since the 1950s Lake Tūtira has faced problems – now posed much more widely – of invasive weeds, nutrient pollution, poisonous algal blooms and mass fish kills. Jonathan will conclude the talk by considering the lessons the lake's history provides for our future.

Public history talks
These free Public History Talks are a collaboration between the Alexander Turnbull Library and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. They are usually held on the first Wednesday of the month, March to November.

About the speaker
Jonathan West is an environmental historian. His first, award-winning book was The Face of Nature: An Environmental History of the Otago Peninsula. This talk results from work towards a BWB Text about Lake Tūtira. It is a part of his wider research for Mirrors on the Land: Histories of New Zealand’s Lakes, a project which Jonathan began as JD Stout Fellow 2019, intends to complete with the support of the Judith Binney Fellowship 2022, and will publish with Otago University Press.

Check before you come
Due to COVID-19 some of our events can be cancelled or postponed at very short notice. Please check the website for updated information about individual events before you come.