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Treaty Narrative Elements Worksheet

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Treaty Narrative Elements Worksheet

Read the historical narrative, then explore its setting, characters, conflict, plot and themes. The Treaty of Waitangi is a real and significant part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history. This short account is a learning text, not a complete history; people held different views, and the Treaty’s meanings and effects continue to be discussed.

A day at Waitangi

In early February 1840, leaders and visitors gathered at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. The summer air was warm, and the meeting place was busy with conversation. Captain William Hobson, representing the British Crown, presented a proposed agreement to Māori rangatira (chiefs). The document became known as Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or the Treaty of Waitangi. The text was translated into te reo Māori by missionary and translator Henry Williams, with help from his son Edward. The English and Māori texts did not express every idea in the same way. At the hui (gathering), rangatira debated what the agreement could mean for their people, authority and land. Some supported signing; others questioned it or opposed it. Their decisions belonged to them, and their reasons were not all the same. On 6 February 1840, many rangatira signed the Māori text at Waitangi. Copies were later taken around the country, and further signings followed. The Treaty became a founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand. Its texts, promises and effects have been understood and debated in different ways, both then and now.

Read closely

Use evidence from the narrative in your answers. More than one answer may be reasonable for questions about interpretation, as long as you explain your thinking.

1.Where and when does the main meeting in the narrative take place? Choose the best answer.

Waitangi, Bay of Islands, in February 1840
Wellington, in February 1840
Waitangi, Bay of Islands, in 1890
Auckland, in February 1840

2.Name two people identified in the narrative and state the role each had in events.

3.What central difficulty or conflict shaped the hui? Explain it in your own words.

4.Put these events in the order they happen in the narrative. Write 1–4 beside each event: rangatira debate the agreement; copies are taken around the country; Hobson presents the proposed agreement; many rangatira sign the Māori text at Waitangi.

5.Which statement best describes the narrative’s point of view?

A first-person account told by Hobson
A third-person narrator describing events and giving no character’s private thoughts
A diary written by Henry Williams
A conversation told only by one rangatira

6.The narrative says, “Their decisions belonged to them, and their reasons were not all the same.” What does this sentence help readers understand about the rangatira?

7.True or false: The narrative says that every rangatira agreed to sign the Treaty at the Waitangi meeting. Use a detail from the text to support your answer.

TrueFalse

8.Choose the theme most strongly supported by the narrative, then give one piece of evidence.

Different understandings and decisions can shape an important agreement
Every historical disagreement has a simple solution
A journey is always more important than its destination
One person always controls what a whole group believes

9.Find one detail that establishes the setting’s time and one detail that establishes its atmosphere. Explain how each helps you picture the scene.

10.The narrative gives a short overview rather than showing the hui through one person’s eyes. Suggest one moment you could expand into a scene, name a viewpoint character, and explain what readers might learn from that viewpoint.