Tuia Mātauranga pukapuka mahi | activity book — junior

Kia ora, me and my whānau

Kia ora

I’m Kuaka the Explorer.

Way back, Pacific peoples followed me all the way to Aotearoa New Zealand. I know my way around, all right!

Come with me on a new adventure and find out what makes you, you.

Activity

Draw your own kuaka.

This is me and my whānau

Tell us a bit about you and your whānau, what are some characteristics about your whānau that people might not know of that you like in particular.

Activity

Sketch yourself with your whanau!

A name is a gift given to identify who you are. How we got our name can tell a story.

Find out the story of your name. Complete these sentences:

• My name is …

• My surname is from …

• My family comes from …

Tōku pepeha — about me

Complete these sentences:

• Ko … te maunga. (My mountain is …)

• Ko … te awa/roto/moana. (My river/lake/sea is …)

• Ko … te waka. (My waka is …)

• Ko … te iwi. (My tribe is …)

• Ko … te whānau. (My family is …)

• Nō … ahau. (I am from …)

Glossary

• maunga — mountain

• awa — river

• waka — waka

• iwi — tribe

• roto — lake

• moana — sea

• kāinga — home

• whānau — family.

Pacific travellers and Matariki

Waka hourua — Pacific sailing canoes

Waka hourua have two hulls and two masts. Strong and sturdy.

Every part of the waka hourua was tied in place — no nails or bolts.

Activity

Join the dots, then name the parts:

• pou manawa — mast

• hiwi — hull

• kiato — cross-beam

• manawa — mast step

• papa noho — deck

• rauawa — gunwales

• kei — stern

• ihu — prow

• rā matua — mainsail

• rā taunaki — mizzen

• hoe tere — steering oar.

HMS Endeavour

The Endeavour was a flat-bottomed ship known as a ‘bark’.

It had heaps of space for storing supplies — it was originally built to carry coal.

Activity

Join the dots, then name the parts:

• rewa matua — mainmast

• kāraho ātea — weather deck

• a runga — tops

• pītau whakamaunga taura — bowsprit

• hoe urungi — rudder

• rīkini — rigging

• he tauru castan — capstan winch.

Star compass

Pacific navigators use a compass like this to help them memorise where stars rise and set.

Activity

Colour in each of the ‘quarters’.

The ‘quarters’ of the compass are named after the four winds:

• Tokerau

• Marangai

• Whakarunga

• Whakararo.

Whare (house) within each ‘quarter’:

• Rā

• Kāinga

• Ngoi

• Manu

• Ngā Rangi

• Ngā Reo

• Haka.

Matariki

Matariki is the star cluster that rises at the start of the Māori New Year in midwinter. It’s also a celebration of the past and future — a time to tell stories and plan ahead.

Draw a face that suits the character of each star:

• Ururangi

• Waipunarangi

• Waitā

• Hiwa-i-te-rangi

• Waitā

• Waitī

• Pōhutukawa

• Tupu-ā-rangi

• Matariki

• Tupu-ā-nuku.

Tupu-ā-nuku — is a gardener.

Tupu-ā-rangi — loves to sing.

Waipunarangi — watches over the oceans, lakes, and rivers, preparing Tangaroa’s children to feed the people.

Waitī — oversees the domain of freshwater.

Waitā — oversees the domain of saltwater.

Ururangi — gives Papatūānuku hugs, to warm her after the cold and dark of winter.

Matariki — helps all her daughters to do their very best.

Some say there are two additional stars in Matariki:

• Pōhutukawa — guides those who have passed on.

• Hiwa-i-te-rangi — leaves us with hope for the year ahead.

Kupe explores Aotearoa

The great explorer Kupe was the first person to name parts of Aotearoa — from the bottom of the South Island to Hokianga in the north. These names live on, nearly 1,000 years later!

Activity

Use Morse code to name the location:

- / . / -- / .- / -. / .- / --- / -.- / ..- / .--. / . / -.- / .. / - / . / -- / --- / .- / -. / .- / -. / ..- / .. / .- / -.- / .. / .-- / .-

Key:

• A: .-

• B: -...

• C: -.-.

• D: -..

• E: .

• F: ..-.

• G: --.

• H: ....

• I: ..

• J: .---

• K: -.-

• L: .-..

• M: --

• N: -.

• O: ---

• P: .--.

• Q: --.-

• R: .-.

• S: ...

• T: -

• U: ..-

• V: ...-

• W: .--

• X: -..-

• Y: -.--

• Z: --..

The waka and ships

Activity

Draw your own waka and ships.

• Ngahiraka mai Tawhiti

• Haunui

• Fa’afaite i te a Māohi

• HMS Endeavour

• R Tucker Thompson

• Spirit of New Zealand.

Which waka for the job?

Waka come in many shapes and sizes. Some are made for travelling on oceans, and others are for taking short trips across rivers.

Look at these three waka:

• waka taua

• waka tiwai

• waka hourua.

Write which one you think is good for:

• carrying a big group of warriors

• taking small groups of people up rivers

• moving fast on the ocean.

Kuaka

Kuaka (bar-tailed godwits) are amazing Pacific travellers.

Flying kuaka are known as ‘waka kuaka’.

Tens of thousands of kuaka flock to Aotearoa New Zealand in spring to rest and feed on our shores.

Activity

Draw your own kuaka.

Native animals, maramataka and plants

Our unique animals

Many animals found nowhere else have evolved in Aotearoa New Zealand, far from other lands.

Some are downright quirky!

Huia

These beautiful songbirds were treasured by Māori — only leaders could wear their white-tipped feathers. Huia were easy meals for mammals that arrived in the 1800s, and they soon became extinct.

Māui dolphin

They’re the tiniest marine dolphins in the world, just 1.5 metres long, with a round ‘Mickey Mouse ear’ dorsal fin. They get caught in fishing nets, and only about 60 adults are left.

Kākāpō

These heavy parrots can’t fly, and clamber up trees for food — sometimes, they fall off!

It is the world’s only night parrot. There are only about 200 kākāpō left. They’re cared for on protected islands.

Activity

Draw these three native animals: a huia, a Māui dolphin, and a kākāpō.

What’s one native animal that lives near you?

How can you help make sure it has enough food and a safe place to raise a family?

The maramataka

The maramataka is the Māori calendar, based on the cycles of the moon.

It tells you the best times to plant, harvest, hunt, and fish.

Takurua (winter) — it's cold! Draw your whānau sitting round a fire.

Kōanga (spring) — time to plant the garden. Draw your favourite fruits and veges.

Raumati (summer) — the sun's warm. Draw your favourite summer spot.

Ngahuru (autumn) — time to store food for winter. Draw where you'd keep it all.

Get growing!

If you can grow your own food, you’ll always have kai to share.

Community gardening teaches you what fruit and veges grow best at what time of year.

This little garden is made from recycled cans.

Activity

Draw a plant you could grow in each season.

Some plants you could draw!

• Carrot

• Lettuce

• Brocolli

• Strawberry

Native plants

Māori used native plants for everything from food and rongoā (medicine) to weaving and carving.

Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander came to Aotearoa New Zealand on the Endeavour and collected seeds and plants. Many hadn’t been seen by Europeans before.

Activity

Find a plant specimen and draw or paste it.

What plant is that? Is it native? Find out here:

• Native plants — New Zealand Department of Conservation | Te Papa Atawhai

• iNaturalist NZ | Mātaki Taiao.

Note these details about the plant including the date you collected it:

• ingoa — name

• ingoa o te tupu — plant specimen name

• rā — date.

Our history, places and treasures

Small country, big events

The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was an important event in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand.

But a lot happened before that!

Activity

Match the milestone to the date. Put these events in the correct order.

Milestones

• Northern Māori sign He Whakaputanga, declaring the country an independent Māori nation.

• Settlers from the Pacific begin migrating here over many generations.

• Kupe comes to Aotearoa.

• Abel Tasman is the first European to sight Aotearoa.

• Lieutenant James Cook arrives on the Endeavour.

• The first shipload of European settlers arrives.

• The Treaty of Waitangi was signed.

Dates

• 2019

• 1840

• 1837

• 1835

• 1831

• 1814

• 1791–1792

• Late 1700s

• 1769

• 1642

• 1150

• 925

Our treaty

The Treaty of Waitangi is our founding document — an agreement between Māori and Pākehā to live together in peace.

Activity

True or false?

• The Treaty was only signed at Waitangi.

• The English and Māori versions were exactly the same.

• The Treaty was written super fast — in just one night.

• No women signed the Treaty.

• The original copies of the Treaty are at the National Library.

Answers — see Answers, glossary and acknowledgements.

The sheets

The Treaty isn’t just one document.

It was signed on nine separate ‘sheets’.

Activity

Which one is which?

Match the image to its name.

• The Waitangi Sheet

• The Manukau-Kāwhia Sheet

• The Waikato-Manukau Sheet (the only sheet written in English)

• The Printed Sheet

• The Tauranga Sheet

• The Bay of Plenty (Fedarb) Sheet

• The Herald (Bunbury)

• The Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet

• The East Coast (Turanga) Sheet.

Place names

Place names tell you where you are, and who was here before you.

Activity

Write the name of the place you live.

Write two things you like about your place.

My place

Tell a story about something amazing that happened in your town a long time ago — comic strip style!

Taonga — your treasures

Taonga are treasured objects. They can remind us of special people or places.

What taonga would you take with you to a new home?

Activity

Visit your local museum.

Draw or paste a photo of your special taonga.

Stars of today and tomorrow

Stars of today

You can help nature thrive. The environment keeps us alive.

How can you nurture it in return?

Activity

Tick what you’ve done already:

• Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth.

• Reuse things in another way.

• Recycled in your recycling bin.

• Planted a tree.

Stars of tomorrow

New Zealand is a country of innovators and explorers.

What are your bright ideas? Draw them into one of the stars.

The future holds exciting possibilities.

Be a star. Make it happen.

Answers, glossary and acknowledgements

Our treaty — answers

1. False — it was taken around the country.

2. False — they made different promises about who had power over what.

3. True.

4. False — about 13 women signed it.

5. True.

Glossary

Maramataka — Māori lunar calendar.

Tangaroa — god of the sea and fish.

Waka hourua — double canoe.

Matariki — star constellation Pleiades.

Waka hourua

Hiwi — hull.

Kiato — cross-beam.

Manawa — mast step.

Papa noho — deck.

Rauawa — gunwales.

Kei — stern.

Ihu — prow.

Rā matua — mainsail.

Rā taunaki — mizzen.

Hoe tere — steering oar.

Pou manawa — mast.

For more ideas and resources, visit Resources and activities — Tuia Mātauranga.

Acknowledgements

The history of Aotearoa New Zealand has many perspectives, some lesser known than others.

We present some here, and we welcome yours.

Sharing knowledge and hearing different perspectives gives us an opportunity to learn more about the history of Aotearoa New Zealand, the nation’s identity, language and culture, and to help shape the future.

The Ministry of Education would like to acknowledge the contribution of iwi, the waka community, historians, National Library, Land Information New Zealand and resource collections in Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Te Papa and NZ History.