📚 Unit Plans → 📜 Unit 2: Decolonized History → 📖 Lesson 5
Lesson 5 of 5 75 minutes

Unit 2: Decolonized Aotearoa History - Centering Māori Agency, Resistance, and Sovereignty

Counter-narrative to colonial histories, highlighting Māori perspectives and ongoing fight for tino rangatiratanga

1 Pre-Colonial Innovation
2 The Aotearoa Wars
3 20th Century Rights
4 Fire of Activism
5 Path to Redress

⚖️ The Path to Redress: Waitangi Tribunal & Modern Settlements

Duration: 75 minutes Year Level: 9-13 Unit: Decolonized Aotearoa History

🎯 Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Explain the role and significance of the Waitangi Tribunal in addressing historical injustices
  • Analyze the connection between 1970s activism and the creation of formal redress mechanisms
  • Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the Treaty settlement process
  • Synthesize learning from the entire unit into a coherent narrative of Māori resistance and sovereignty

📚 Key Concepts

  • Waitangi Tribunal (1975): Established to hear Treaty grievances - direct result of activism
  • Treaty Settlements: Financial and symbolic redress for historical wrongs
  • Wai Reports: Tribunal investigations into specific claims (e.g., Wai 11: Te Reo Māori report)
  • Partial Justice: Settlements acknowledge harm but can never fully restore what was lost
  • Ongoing Struggle: Redress is progress, but tino rangatiratanga remains incomplete

🚀 Lesson Structure

Part 1: Reading & Discussion - Waitangi Tribunal (25 minutes)

Resources: Waitangi Tribunal Cases Handout · Lesson 5 Source Pack

Purpose: Understand how activism led to institutional change.

Activity:

  1. Read Together (10 min): Distribute handout. Read about:
    • Establishment (1975): Created after Land March - direct concession to protest pressure
    • Wai 11 (1986): Te Reo Māori report - declared te reo a "taonga" under Treaty protection
    • Ngāi Tahu (1991): Major South Island claim, $170M settlement (though land value far higher)
  2. Discussion Questions (15 min):
    • "How is the Waitangi Tribunal connected to Lesson 4's activism?" (Protests forced government to create formal process)
    • "What does the Te Reo report tell us about the Treaty?" (Not just about land - about culture, language, survival)
    • "Are settlements 'enough'? Can money fix historical trauma?" (Complex - acknowledge without erasing ongoing harm)

💡 Teaching Tip: Students may think settlements "solved" everything. Push back - settlements are partial justice, not full restoration. The struggle continues.

Part 2: Unit Synthesis - Timeline/Mind Map (30 minutes)

Purpose: Connect all five lessons into one coherent story of resistance and agency.

Activity:

  1. Create Visual (20 min): As a class or in groups, create a large timeline or mind map showing:
    • Pre-Colonial (L1): Sophisticated societies with advanced technology and governance
    • Aotearoa Wars (L2): Strategic military resistance to land theft
    • 20th Century (L3): Urbanization, discrimination, and ongoing marginalization
    • Activism (L4): Fire of 1970s protest - Land March, Bastion Point, Ngā Tamatoa
    • Redress (L5): Waitangi Tribunal, settlements, partial justice
  2. Add Connections: Draw arrows or lines showing:
    • Land confiscation (L2) → urban migration (L3) → concentrated activism (L4)
    • Activism (L4) → political pressure → Tribunal created (L5)
    • Throughout: Tino rangatiratanga as the constant demand
  3. Whole-Class Reflection (10 min): "What's the big story of this unit? What connects all these events?"
    • Answer: Māori never stopped fighting for sovereignty. From pre-colonial governance → military resistance → modern activism → legal/political redress. Same struggle, different tactics.

Part 3: Assessment Introduction (15 minutes)

Purpose: Launch the summative assessment - decolonized historical essay.

Activity:

Introduce the unit assessment: Students will write a historical essay using a decolonized framework, centering Māori agency and resistance. Essay prompt:

Essay Prompt:

"How have Māori fought for tino rangatiratanga from the 19th century to today? Analyze at least TWO historical periods/events from this unit to show continuity in the struggle for sovereignty."

Introduce Success Criteria:

  • Thesis centers Māori agency (not victimization)
  • Evidence from at least two lessons
  • Analysis of strategies, not just description
  • Connections to tino rangatiratanga as throughline
  • Counter-narrative approach (challenges colonial framing)

Handout Resources:

Part 4: Exit Reflection (5 minutes)

Prompt: "What's the most important thing you learned in this unit? How has your understanding of Aotearoa history changed?"

Optional Add-On: "What questions do you still have?"

📊 Assessment

Formative: Timeline/mind map contributions, discussion participation, exit reflection

Summative: Decolonized historical essay (to be completed over next 1-2 weeks)

🎓 Teacher Notes

Preparation:

  • Print Waitangi Tribunal handout
  • Prepare large chart paper/whiteboard for timeline/mind map
  • Have markers in multiple colors for connections
  • Print essay prompt and success criteria for students to take home

Differentiation:

  • Support: Provide pre-made timeline with dates. Students add events and connections. For essay, provide sentence starters and thesis templates.
  • Core: Standard activities as described
  • Extension: Students research a current Treaty settlement (e.g., Waikato-Tainui, Ngāi Tūhoe) and present to class

Emotional Landing:

  • This unit covers heavy material - acknowledge the emotional labor
  • End on hope: resistance continues, progress is real (even if incomplete)
  • Frame assessment as opportunity to honor the stories learned
  • Thank students for engaging with difficult history with care

🔗 Connections to NZC

  • Social Studies Level 5: Understand how people view and use places differently
  • History Level 6: Understand how historical forces and movements have influenced the lives of people and caused change
  • Key Competencies: Thinking (synthesis, critical analysis), Participating and Contributing (understanding civic processes)

➡️ Next Steps

For Students: Begin working on decolonized historical essay. Use framework from this unit to analyze Māori resistance and agency.

For Teachers: Provide feedback on essay drafts. Consider bringing in Māori community members to share contemporary perspectives on Treaty settlements and tino rangatiratanga.