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Aotearoa Historical Events Research

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Aotearoa Historical Events Research

Read the timeline and information cards, then use evidence to solve the questions. Dates before 1950 are shown as CE. For the research-design question, use the information in this worksheet rather than outside sources.

A timeline of change

Events in Aotearoa happened across many centuries. Dates for the earliest Polynesian arrivals are estimates, not exact records.

c. 1300 — Polynesian ancestors of Māori had settled across Aotearoa.

1642 — Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted Aotearoa; there was a violent encounter with Māori at Taitapu.

1769 — James Cook arrived and mapped parts of the coast. Māori communities already lived throughout the country.

1840 — Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed at Waitangi on 6 February. Different versions of the text were used.

1860s — The New Zealand Wars included conflicts over land and authority. Māori and Crown perspectives and experiences differed.

1893 — The Electoral Act gave women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. New Zealand became the first self-governing country to do so.

Evidence cards

Use these short accounts as evidence. A historical source may show one perspective more clearly than another.

Some rangatira understood Te Tiriti as an agreement that protected tino rangatiratanga (authority and self-determination) while allowing the Crown a role. Māori communities have held varied views and experiences.

British officials described the agreement as establishing Crown sovereignty. The English and Māori texts do not express every key idea in the same way, contributing to different interpretations.

1.Put these events in order from earliest to latest: women's voting rights; first signing of Te Tiriti; Polynesian settlement; Cook's arrival.

2.A researcher says, “Te Tiriti was signed in 1840, so everyone must have understood it in exactly the same way.” How do both evidence cards challenge this claim? Explain how each card does so.

3.Which event made New Zealand the first self-governing country to grant women the parliamentary vote?

The signing of Te Tiriti in 1840
The New Zealand Wars in the 1860s
The Electoral Act of 1893
Cook's arrival in 1769

4.A museum label says, “Cook discovered New Zealand in 1769.” Rewrite this label so it recognises Māori history and is more precise about Cook's role.

5.Match each event with the statement it best supports.

Polynesian settlement, c. 1300
Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840
Electoral Act, 1893

Different texts and understandings make multiple perspectives important.
Women gained the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
Māori ancestors settled Aotearoa long before European arrivals.

6.A class is making an exhibit about the New Zealand Wars. Give one useful question to investigate and name two contrasting perspectives or source types they should include so the exhibit is not one-sided.

7.A timeline records that an event happened, but not how everyone experienced it. Explain why historians compare more than one perspective when studying Te Tiriti or the New Zealand Wars.

8.Write one sentence explaining how learning about an event from Aotearoa's past can help people understand the country today. Use one example from this worksheet.