British Empire in the Pacific · 1840-1893

New Zealand and the Treaty of Waitangi

In 1840 Māori chiefs and the British Crown sign the Treaty of Waitangi. But the English and Māori texts say different things, and within a generation war and land confiscation follow. Students ask what was promised and why the treaty still matters.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1815 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1840 Māori chiefs and the British Crown sign the Treaty of Waitangi. But the English and Māori texts say different things, and within a generation war and land confiscation follow. Students ask what was promised and why the treaty still matters.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe Aotearoa New Zealand before 1840 and the arrival of British settlers.
  • Explain why the English and Māori texts of the Treaty of Waitangi led to different understandings.
  • Explain how the New Zealand Wars and land confiscations affected Māori, and why the treaty matters today.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1815

Aotearoa

Open the map in 1815 and zoom in on New Zealand. Whose land does the map show? Find the North Island, the South Island and the Bay of Islands in the far north.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1840

The Bay of Islands

Zoom in on the Bay of Islands. Find Waitangi and Russell (Kororāreka), a busy whaling port in the 1830s. Why did British officials come here first?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1914

From colony to dominion

Drag the slider from 1815 to 1914. How does the label on the islands change, and what does that tell you?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Māori ancestors arrived from eastern Polynesia several centuries before 1840. Why might chiefs have wanted a treaty with Britain at all?
  2. In English the chiefs gave up "sovereignty"; in Māori they gave "kāwanatanga" (governance) and kept "tino rangatiratanga" (full chieftainship). Why does that difference matter?
  3. Settlers wanted land for farms. How did land sales and confiscations lead to war?
  4. In 1893 New Zealand became the first self-governing country where women could vote in national elections. Why might that have happened there?
  5. Since 1975 a tribunal has heard Māori claims under the treaty. Why do countries reopen old promises?
4

Game round

10 min

No ruler of Aotearoa is in Rule History. Play Elizabeth I: in her reign England began to reach for an overseas empire. Discuss: more than 200 years later the Crown signed a treaty with Māori chiefs. Why sign a treaty here, when in Australia it simply claimed the land?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.