Telling the stories of Post-war Cretan Female Migrants in New Zealand

An oral history and digital storytelling project

Telling the stories of Post-war Cretan Migrant Women in Aotearoa New Zealand

An oral history and digital storytelling project

Evangelia Nionaki (Ikonomaki)

Evangelia was born in Kasteli Fournes, Merabelo in Crete right at the end of the war in 1944. She talks about her family and her father’s occupation as a carpenter who worked hard to provide for the family, often building schools and churches. She mentions how her father visited New Zealand and was amazed by the infrastructure there. Evangelia talks about her mother’s weaving on a loom, the village’s abundance of looms, and the production of knitwear. She mentions that her mother sold the woven items for money.

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Bio

Oral History Project – Audio interview transcript

Click here for the English version of this interview transcript

A New Zealand Cretan
war connection

A micro-study of Greek female immigrants to NZ in the 60s

by Associate Prof. Evangelia Papoutsaki