KEY POINTS:
A study has cited the rich and emotional storytelling ability of mothers as a reason Maori adults tend to have the earliest childhood memories of any culture.
Otago University research from 2000 found, on average, young Maori adults' earliest memories reached back to 2 1/2 years of age, while Pakeha memories kicked in a year later.
Associate Professor Elaine Reese co-authored a study just published in the US journal Child Development which found that Maori mothers appeared to talk to their children in richer ways about significant events involving them.
Discussing past events in richer detail during early childhood has previously been linked to children more effectively storing their early memories. The latest study assessed the narrative environment for 15 Maori and 17 Pakeha children. Mother and children aged between 3 and 8 recorded their birth stories on tape, plus six other everyday past events.
Birth stories were chosen because it was a shared significant event for all families, Professor Reese said.
Maori mothers provided more references to time and emotions in their birth stories to their children than European mothers, she said.
"They talked about the positive emotions and how happy they were and how happy everyone was.
"They didn't say we went to the hospital and you were born.
"There was some funny ones as well. There was a boy 7 or 8 and he'd heard the story before and there was a certain amount of teasing going on and the boy said, 'Dad was the first one to hold me'. And the mum said, 'No I was the first one to hold you because I knew I'd be holding you for the rest of my life'."
The study wasn't suggesting that birth stories were the first memory but the stories were a good indicator of how mothers tended to talk with their children about significant events.
"We found that the richness of the style in which mothers related the birth stories strongly predicted how good children were at talking about more recent past events."
The oral nature of transmission of information could also be a reason memory recall happened so early in life.
Ngarangi Walker, a first-time mother, made a point of talking to her son Karauria-Kahawai, now aged 3 1/2 months, during pregnancy.
"You enrich their lives with talking. Maori are always talking to kids. The thing is they can't do anything else but listen for so long.
"The most powerful thing you can give your children are memories. Whether or not they're good or bad they're still powerful. It's how you build an affinity with them."
MY FIRST MEMORY
MIRIAMA KAMO
Journalist, broadcaster
"My first memory was when my mum was selling my favourite pram and I was really distressed. I cooked up this plan in my head - if I got in the pram it'll look so cute and the people coming to buy it simply won't want it. I can still remember the couple - they were kind of hippyish and the lady had beautiful long lovely hair. My mum said 'OK, Miriama, out of the pram'. I got out really slowly and they took it. I wouldn't have been more than 18 months old."
WAYNE SHELFORD
All Black Great
"I suppose it was when I was a little guy, running around the old school. My mum's and dad's place used to back on to the school, Glenholme Primary in Rotorua. After school I was only 2-2 1/2 going on 3. We used to go and play all the time. And I suppose driving with my uncle in his Mark Zephyr. It was one of those two-tone jobs - a green colour on the bottom and a beige colour up the top."
JIM HICKEY
Weatherman
"I was brought up on a farm in Taranaki at a place called Warea, it's very close to Parihaka. My father used to sit me up on his big old David Brown - it was made by the same people who made the Aston Martin sports cars. It would have been a good year before I started school."
OLIVER DRIVER
Actor/artist/creative director of ALT TV
"I remember riding our Great Danes. I used to ride around on one like a horse. I must have been about 3. I wasn't galloping around the countryside like somebody delivering the mail. It was in a controlled environment in the lounge but they were huge dogs and I just remember clinging on to these massive dogs."
