Year 9 - Lesson 7

Curriculum level:
4 - 5
Programme focus:
What the Treaty says.
Length of lesson:
45 – 90 minutes

Focus learning areas

  • Māori and protest.

Achievement objectives

Students will gain knowledge, skills, and experience to:

  • Understand how exploration and innovation create opportunities and challenges for people, places, and environments.
  • Understand that events have causes and effects.
  • Understand how the ideas and actions of people in the past have had a significant impact on people’s lives.
  • Understand how the Treaty of Waitangi is responded to differently by people in different times and different places.

Learning outcomes

This programme will provide students with opportunities to:

  • Reflect on how they would feel if put in someone else’s situation.
  • Research examples of Māori individuals or groups protesting in regard to breaches in the Treaty.

Suggested activities

Raising their voices

Share with the students some examples of when Māori have protested because of the Treaty breaches they have experienced.

Examples can be found:

http://www.treaty2u.govt.nz/the-treaty-today/raising-their-voices/

http://www.treaty2u.govt.nz/the-treaty-today/te-reo-maori/

http://www.treaty2u.govt.nz/the-treaty-today/the-orakei-claim/

  • Ask the students how they would feel if this was to happen to them.
  • Do they agree/disagree with the Māori group?
  • In these particular examples, how was the Treaty breached?
  • Can they pinpoint it to one of the Articles?

Research task

Ask the students to choose an iwi or a person who has protested in the past, regarding a breach of the Treaty.

Some examples:

  • Hone Heke – cut down the flag pole in Kororareka (Russell) 1844 and 1845.
  • Kawiti – was an ally of Hone Heke, and was involved in fighting in Kororareka against British soldiers.
  • Ngāti Whātua (led by Joe Hawke) – staged a 506 day land occupation at Takaparawhau (Bastion Point, Auckland).
  • Dame Whina Cooper – led the 1975 hikoi (land march) that began at Te Hapua, in the far north, and ended in Wellington, where a petition was presented to Parliament.

The task is to present a profile page on that person or iwi. They will need an image of that person/iwi, and an image for their protest. They will also need to complete:

  • The name.
  • Form of protest.
  • Where did the protest take place?
  • Why were they protesting? (What happened to them?)
  • What parts of the Treaty were breached for this person/iwi in the past?

Supporting information

The text of the Treaty
http://www.treaty2u.govt.nz/the-treaty-up-close/

This site is part of the Human Rights Commission strategy, looking at human rights and Treaty rights in contemporary New Zealand. Unique to this site are personal stories from members of the public on the Treaty of Waitangi, and case studies of people wanting to protect or enable their Treaty rights.
http://www.hrc.co.nz/index.php?p=23986

New Zealand history online
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/

Read about the background of the Treaty and the Treaty timeline. Looking for answers to specific questions? If so visit the FAQ section, which answers common questions in a succinct easy manner.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz

Harris, Aroha

Hīkoi: Forty Years of Māori Protest

Huia Publishers, Wellington, 2004

Neumann, Ruth

Our Treaty: The Treaty of Waitangi 1840 to the Present

New House Publishers, Auckland, 2002

Orange, Claudia

An Illustrated History of The Treaty of Waitangi, Revised edition

Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2004

Stenson, Marcia

The Treaty: Every New Zealander’s Guide to the Treaty of Waitangi

Random House, Auckland, 2004