Volunteer & Community Work

CFG Heritage Ltd engages in community outreach and volunteer work through the following programmes:

• UoA midden work. The University of Auckland archaeology students are welcome to CFG Heriage Laboratories to be trained by Mat and Danielle on midden analysis of pre-European Māori midden. The program has been running for 5 years.
• UoO internship Masters. The University of Otago requires students who are sitting the Masters of Archaeological Practice to be an intern at a company, CFG volunteers its staff time to train and host these interns since 2021. All CFG interns have continued as working archaeologists after graduating.
• The NZAA Tony Walton Fund. Some CFG staff are recipients of the NZAA Tony Walton Fund, dedicated to recording and updating records on the NZAA SRS. Danielle received hers in 2018, Brendan in 2020, and Leela in 2023. More can be found here »
• Danielle Tilford in conjunction with Hal Hovell (Ngāti Porou) surveyed the area between Te Araroa and the East Cape. The work was undertaken over 4 days with whānau and over 40 archaeological sites were added to the New Zealand Archaeological Association’s (NZAA) Site Recording Scheme (SRS). Subsequent funding and grants have been awarded to the whānau for cultural heritage mapping projects.
• Brendan Kneebone, alongside Andrew McAlister, Dante Bonica, Alex Jorgenson, Robert Brassey, and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki surveyed and recorded in detail archaeological sites and features located at Home Bay on Rakino Island.
• Leela Moses is running a project, together with Ngāti Kuia and DOC, to update and create site records in remote areas of the Marlborough Sound, which have not seen significant archaeological attention since the 1970s. Te Pākeka (Maud Island) and Titirangi are both significant archaeological landscapes, whose histories have an important place in the kōrero of Ngāti Kuia. This mahi was carried out by Leela, in conjunction with Ruihana Smith (Ngāti Kuia Te Pou Hāpai Taiao), adding to our knowledge of these wahi Tīpuna, and building iwi capacity for future surveys.