Session 1 · TRACE: Time & Place
A timeline across the wall
- 10 minHook: pass around an old iron nail and a flax cord. Which one is 'high tech'? In 1800, a single nail could buy a basket of kūmara in some places. Why might that be?
- 20 minBuild the class timeline wall from 1790 to 1870 with a long rope and event cards: first sealing gangs (1792), Ruatara and the first mission (1814), Hongi Hika in England (1820), the Musket Wars, Colenso's printing press (1834), invasion of Rēkohu (1835), He Whakaputanga (1835), te Tiriti (1840).
- 15 minMap your rohe: draw the awa, coast, hills and marae. Mark where waka landed, where ships could anchor and where missionaries or traders set up. Why there?
- 5 minChoose your context: our own awa and rohe, Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands) or Rēkohu (Chatham Islands).
Session 2 · TRACE: Time & Place
Māori society before the ships
- 10 minVocabulary circle: mana, whakapapa, tikanga, utu (balance and reciprocity, not just revenge), whenua, kaitiakitanga. Write each on a card with an everyday example.
- 20 minRead part 1 of 'Before and after the ships'. In pairs, draw a diagram showing how whānau, hapū and iwi were organised and how land was cared for collectively.
- 15 minTrade before contact: map how pounamu, obsidian (tūhua), tītī (muttonbirds) and kūmara moved between iwi. What made a good trading partner?
- 5 minExit card: one thing that was already working well in Māori society in 1790, with a reason.
Getting started
Use the picture timeline cards with the dates already printed, and a map with the awa already drawn in.
Stretch
Find out which iwi and hapū hold mana whenua in your rohe and one place name that tells a story about the land.
Checkpoint
Every student can place five events on the timeline and explain one way Māori society was organised before contact.
Activities for this week
- The 1790–1870 timeline wall: What happened in Aotearoa between 1790 and 1870, and in what order?
- Then-and-now map of our rohe: How has our place changed since the first ships arrived?
Useful this week
- Te Māori i te ohanga – Māori in the economy ↗ How Māori traded and organised work before and after contact.
- Encounters ↗ Early meetings between Māori and Europeans, with images and sources.