East Coast Conflicts

Overview

Lesson 15 of 30 in Whenua, War, and Sovereignty. Students investigate conflict and shifting alliances in Te Tai Rāwhiti during the 1860s–70s, considering Crown campaigns, Pai Mārire, local iwi experiences, and competing motivations. The lesson develops the inquiry skills needed for a source-based historical investigation.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• identify key developments in the East Coast conflicts and place them in chronological context
• investigate how different groups understood their interests, choices, and threats
• annotate and cross-reference evidence from varied historical sources
• develop a multi-causal explanation of why alliances shifted and conflict escalated

Success criteria

I can:

• explain at least two different motivations influencing events in Te Tai Rāwhiti
• use specific evidence to support a claim about a person, group, or decision
• identify perspective, usefulness, and limitations in a historical source
• explain why a single-cause account does not adequately explain the conflicts

Curriculum links

• Carry out an inquiry of an historical event or place that is of significance to New Zealanders: preparing questions, annotating evidence, organising sources, and evaluating the inquiry.
• Level 7 history learning: analyse causes, consequences, perspectives, continuity, and change in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Develop historical interpretations that recognise the significance of events and places to people at the time and to New Zealanders today.

Lesson structure (120 minutes)

1. 0–10 min · Provocation and prior knowledge. Teacher opens with the hook and location map and poses: “When people join, leave, or oppose an alliance, what might they be protecting?” Students silently record an initial response, then share one possible motivation with a partner. Establish that the lesson uses “Crown”, “Māori”, and “iwi” carefully: these categories contained diverse people and interests.

2. 10–27 min · Context teaching. Teacher uses the context timeline and key terms to introduce Te Tai Rāwhiti, the New Zealand Wars context, Pai Mārire, Crown military campaigns, local leadership, land and political pressures, and the importance of whakapapa, whenua, and community security. Briefly clarify that Pai Mārire was a religious and political movement, not a single explanation for every Māori decision. Students complete the first section of the East Coast inquiry organiser, building a six-event timeline and defining unfamiliar terms.

3. 27–52 min · Source carousel. Teacher places four source stations around the room and models one annotation using the prompts: What does this show? Whose perspective is present? How useful is it for our question? What caution is needed? Students work in groups of five, rotating every six minutes. They examine a Crown report or military account, a Pai Mārire-related account, an iwi or local leadership perspective, and a later historical interpretation. Students record a quotation or detail, provenance, perspective, usefulness, limitation, and a possible motivation for each source.

4. 52–62 min · Evidence check and pause. Teacher leads a whole-class debrief using the source-analysis prompts. Students compare one source with a classmate’s source and identify where the evidence supports, complicates, or contradicts their interpretation. Students may take a short movement or water break during the final two minutes.

5. 62–90 min · Competing motivations map. Teacher demonstrates a systems-style map on the board, linking motivations rather than ranking one “cause”. Suggested categories are whenua and authority, religious belief, protection of communities, political autonomy, Crown security, relationships between iwi, retaliation, trade and resources, and uncertain or changing information. Students use the motivation mapping and evidence grid to construct a causal network. Each group must include at least four motivations, three actors or communities, two turning points, and arrows labelled “increased”, “challenged”, “responded to”, or “made more likely”. Groups then give a two-minute explanation of one shifting alliance.

6. 90–110 min · Individual historical judgement. Teacher displays the writing frame in the judgement task and response checklist: “The East Coast conflicts cannot be explained by one cause because…”. Students write a structured paragraph using at least three pieces of evidence from two different perspectives. They must explain how motivations interacted and include one qualification, such as “However…” or “This source is limited because…”. Teacher conferences with students, checking that claims are analytical rather than merely chronological.

7. 110–120 min · Plenary and exit check. Teacher returns to the opening question and asks students to revise their first response. Students complete the final section of the reflection and exit response: identify the most significant interaction between motivations, name the strongest source used, and state one question requiring further inquiry. Invite two students to share contrasting judgements.

Resources

• the East Coast conflicts teaching deck
• the East Coast inquiry organiser
• Four teacher-selected, accessible primary and secondary sources
• Projector or interactive display
• Large paper or whiteboards and coloured pens
• Classroom map of Te Tai Rāwhiti
• Timer
• Source station labels

Assessment

• During the carousel, check whether annotations link evidence to the inquiry question and identify perspective, usefulness, and limitations.
• Assess motivation maps for multiple actors, interconnected explanations, labelled relationships, and accurate use of evidence.
• Collect the individual paragraph and exit response as formative evidence of source-based, multi-causal historical reasoning.

Differentiation

• Provide a source glossary, colour-coded annotation prompts, a partially completed timeline, and sentence starters such as “This source is useful because…” and “A limitation is…”.
• Pair students strategically and provide transcripts or enlarged extracts for students who need reading or visual support; read key passages aloud without reducing the analytical task.
• Allow students to present the motivation map orally before writing, and offer speech-to-text or scribing where appropriate.
• Extend confident students by requiring them to compare the reliability of two sources addressing the same event and explain how later interpretations may differ from contemporary accounts.
• Use careful, mana-enhancing language when discussing iwi, religious movements, violence, confiscation, and Crown actions; avoid treating Māori communities or Crown actors as internally uniform.