Struggle for Land and Sovereignty
This resource shows how three texts from the School Journal series can be used to support learning in the context of tino rangatiratanga me te kāwanatanga through the various ways that Māori tried to resist colonialism, retain land, and assert mana motuhake.
Season 1, Episode 3: Early Encounters
Abel Tasman and James Cook’s first contacts with Māori were complex and sometimes violent. Europeans introduce new technologies, food and ideas, such as muskets, potatoes and Christianity. In some cases this works out well for Tangata Whenua - but in other cases the consequences are devastating.
Season 1, Episode 5: New Zealand Wars (Part 1)
Waikato Māori had been steadfast allies of Pākehā but the hunger for land from influential colonists and the rise of Kingitanga encourages Governor George Grey to launch a massive invasion. The war is devastating for Māori but the fighting is not as one-sided as the British expect.
The NZ Herald has included an interactive map to show all the settlements for land across NZ. Also, through this link you can watch the shared stories of those who have, and are still, fighting for land.
Season 1, Episode 4: Te Tiriti o Waitangi
In Europe, factions argue over the future of Aotearoa. Colonisation? Protection for indigenous peoples? Meanwhile Māori have their own ideas how to handle the growing number of Pakeha. In the end, Te Tiriti o Waitangi is signed, but the early promise quickly turns to confusion and, ultimately, war.
Season 1, Episode 6: New Zealand Wars (Part 2)
British troops are leaving Aotearoa but conflict between the government and so-called “rebel” Māori gets more intense as settler militia enter the fray. Some Māori chose to fight alongside the Crown while others become followers of new religious movements, which seem to promise a way out.
See major Crown acquisitions since 1840, including confiscations after the New Zealand Wars and peak Native Land Court era.
This animation is from the map table at the He Tohu exhibition.
See the voyage of the 9 sheets of the Treaty over 8 months in 1840 across New Zealand. The sheets went to 45 locations and gathered 542 signatures.
This animation is from the map table at the He Tohu exhibition.
The map table is a 3D canvas that stories are projected onto from above. Find out more at https://natlib.govt.nz/he-tohu
My story Novel
Mission Girl: Fleur Beale
When her tribe is defeated in battle, Atapo is captured and becomes a slave of her enemies. Freedom seems impossible; the penalty for runaway slaves is death. But when sickness strikes the village, Atapo is blamed–and now it is even more dangerous to stay. To save her life, she escapes to the Pakeha mission station at Paihia. There, Atapo is taught to read and write, and learns of the threat to Maori by some unscrupulous settlers greedy for land. Against the backdrop of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, Atapo discovers how her education can save her tribal lands and help her reclaim her destiny as the guiding star of her people
Native land court
Season 2, Episode 6
In 1841 just a few tiny islands of Pākehā settlement existed in an ocean of Māori land. Today that picture has reversed, and Māori control a fraction of Aotearoa. A big part of the reason? The Native Land Court.
What New Zealand can teach us about reparations - an international view.
A VOX documentary - gives an overview of the history of Aotearoa and what has led to the reparations of recent times.
Colonists & Courts
Season 1, Episode 8:
More settlers are coming to NZ and most want one thing: Land. This time the colonial government doesn’t launch a war to get hold of that land - instead it creates new legal structures that undermine Maori tradition. Plus, how early colonists shaped our image of the “classic kiwi bloke” and the story of Parihaka.
Native land court
A simple overview of the Waitangi Tribunal - which was formed by the Government after Whina Cooper's Land March in the same year - 1975.