When super tropical cyclone Heta devastated the government offices on the island of Niue, an island more than 2,000 miles off the east coast of Australia, the vital records of the country fell victim to the storm's incredible forces. In the village of Alofi, powerful waves whipped by 180 mph winds literally washed 70 homes and businesses into the sea from a cliff 90 feet above the South Pacific Ocean.
In an emotional, hour-long ceremony held at the Auckland City Library on 25 February, Elder Spencer J. Condie, second counselor in the Church's Pacific Islands Area Presidency, presented 28 rolls of microfilm as a gift to the people and government of Niue from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The vital records were fortuitously captured on microfilm when the Genealogical Society of Utah contracted with the Niuean government to photograph and preserve the records in February 1994. 21,000 Niuean citizens living in New Zealand and the Niuean government will now have access to these records.
The records on the reels of microfilm include birth, death and marriage records from as early as 1899; immigration records; and genealogies of Niuean property owners. The records are an important part of land ownership laws in Niue, because property ownership is often established and granted through the genealogical records of families.
Elder Condie taught of the eternal nature of the family when he told the assembly: "Malachi said the day would come when the hearts of the fathers will turn to the children and children to the fathers. If this is to happen you have to know who your fathers are." In speaking on the family, he said: "Families are the basic unit of society. If we don't keep records about families, our basic unit is apt to disintegrate." He told the audience, "I am not just the son (or daughter) of my parents, but also of my grandparents and great-grandparents."
Fuimano Les McCarthy, CEO of the New Zealand Ministry of Pacific Islands Affairs, and Allison Dobbie, Auckland City library manager, accepted the records on behalf of the Niuean people and government. McCarthy said: "Our history is in our minds and hearts; it is not written down or kept on computers. These records are of huge value to help rebuild that which was lost. Can you imagine the task of trying to restore these records from nothing?"
Dobbie said: "We are grateful for the generosity of the Church in recognizing this need and making a copy available to the library; it is hugely appreciated. Thank you, indeed, for responding so quickly and so generously in a way that benefits so many."
Holono Lui, communications manager for the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and a Niuean, spoke of the importance of ancestral ties: "We the living, we have in us — symbolized before us (in these records) — all that have gone before us. Our past is embodied in us; our families are embodied in us."
Reverend Faitala, of the Presbyterian congregation, said, "This occasion is a beautiful and memorable time and also a very sad time for the people of Niue, but fortunately their God worked through the people of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints both in Niue and in Utah to restore these very important records."