Footsteps of a Nation

Social Studies Online

See Legislative Violations of the Treaty of Waitangi: The first 150 years

1. Use the figures of Maori Land Ownership to construct a graph showing Changes in Maori Land Ownership 1840-1975.

   Maori Land Ownership

   1840	66, 400, 000 acres
   1852	34, 000, 000 acres
   1860	21, 400, 000 acres
   1891	11, 079, 486 acres
   1911	7, 137, 205 acres
   1920	4, 787, 686 acres
   1939	4, 028, 903 acres
   1975	3, 000, 000 acres

2. When did the greatest land losses occur?

   (Ask your Maths Department to suggest different ways these statistics could be analysed.)

   The Treaty of Waitangi was supposed to protect Maori ownership of their land. What happened?

3. Provide pairs or small groups of students, with one of these sets of events summarised from the Nga Tangata Cosmos site. Each event in some way contributed to either loss of Maori land, loss of mana or both.

   Give the students time to "translate" their events. Provide dictionaries or access to online dictionaries to check out key terms such as:
   contradict, pre-emption, abolish, protectorate, communal, individualise, land title, amendment, breach, nullity, trustees, appropriated, eligible, rehabilitation, indefinite period;
   and to a Maori dictionary for tohunga and whangai.

   Students form a Human Timeline across the room and in turn briefly explain how their events affected Maori.

   Perception Check
   Create a class Mind Map on the board or an OHT classifying the events that affected Maori after 1840, eg. loss of land; cultural change; denial or removal of human rights; impact of war.

   Violations of The Treaty
   Students complete the Violations of The Treaty Concept Map to show how the Crown (the Government) moved from the intent of Normanby's instructions to Governor Hobson to disregarding the provisions of each section of Te Tiriti.