Term 1 week 9: Dawn Raids & the Polynesian Panthers

 This term we have been working on our personal story maps and adding information about the history of Aotearoa.  We spent some time on The House That Jack Built by Gavin Bishop, exploring the changing relationship and balance of power between Māori and settlers.

This week we are looking at an important story in our history of Aotearoa - the Dawn Raids of the 1970s and the development of the Polynesian Panthers.

1. We started with everyone writing down what they currently know about the dawn raids.  We thought about the words and the connotations that they have.
2. Then we read the article by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith, Rise Up: The Story of the Dawn Raids and the Polynesian Panthers and answered two questions as below:
3. Who were the Polynesian Panthers?  What did they do to fight for human rights for Pasifika people?
4. What do the dawn raids tell us about scapegoating?

Our next step for our year 11 rangatahi is to explore the story of the dawn raids through another text: The Terror of the Dawn Raids by Melani Anae.  Melani Anae was an original member of the Polynesian Panthers and is now Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland.

1. Highlight all the pieces of legislation (laws) mentioned in the article.  Then take this information and make a timeline, using your own words, of legislation passed by the New Zealand government which impacted Pasifika people's rights to live and work in New Zealand.
2. How were Māori affected by the police actions towards people suspected of being in New Zealand illegally in the 1970s?
3. What does this suggest about who the New Zealand government and police thought were true "New Zealanders"?

Learning for Friday 26 March 2021

Mōrena Ngā Here Kahikatea ākonga

I am off sick today.  My apologies for missing our lesson.

Year 11: 

Thanks for your mahi yesterday.  Your jobs today are: 

• to finish any questions you didn't get done yesterday, 
• to make sure that your hāngi report is complete, includes interesting details and is correctly spelt and punctuated
• to read if you have some time left.  You can read your own novel, or you could explore the articles on e-tangata.  I liked this one on the Māoriland film festival.
• This article on police taking photographs of rangatahi is interesting - and scary. 

Years 9 & 10:

Here are your jobs for today:

• to make sure that your hāngi report is complete, includes interesting details and is correctly spelt and punctuated.
• to read.  If you need a new reading book, then Matua Gordy could take 2-3 students at a time to choose a new book.

If you work hard, then the last 20 minutes could involve a game (outside if the weather is good) or waiata.  Sapati is ace on the guitar, and Matua Gordy has some great games.

Hāngi report: an exemplar

 Ms Quick & Ms Seyb get to join the hāngi fun

On Friday 19 March, Ms Seyb and I got to leave school for most of the morning and join the learning and fun down at the Whare Manaaki.  I had heard about the Whare Manaaki from Eli Maiava and on Facebook, but this was my first visit.

We arrived at Whare Manaaki just before interval, and found happy students everywhere!  Eli welcomed us and explained that there was a separate meeting about to start, that we would need to be mindful in terms of noise, and that we were all welcome to share their kai at lunchtime.  How lucky were we!

I took my time looking around the space, both inside and out.  It was nice to see Trish and Jake again, as I’d had the pleasure of teaching LeBron last year.  Jake and John were working hard prepping the meat when I first walked in.  Out in the grassy space beside Whare Manaaki, a group of men and students were watching the fire for the hāngi.  I got to meet Isy’s Dad, Fale, and Messiah’s Dad, Jax.  I also got to enjoy the sunshine and to admire the super thick pieces of glass that Sapati and others found when they were digging the pit.

Inside, Matua Joe was getting started on the fried bread, ably assisted by Isy, Autumn, Tiana and Hayley.  I love fried bread!  There isn’t a purpose built kitchen in this space, which was once an architect’s offices, but I was impressed by how everyone was making it work, taking buckets and cloths down from the sink upstairs, and using the table as a kitchen bench.  The table was big enough to make and cut up a lot of pieces of dough for fried bread at once.

At midday, we shared kai with members of the community who were there for a meeting.  Our students had prepared the kai, and everyone was happy and enjoyed the beautiful food.  I like how the space brings lots of people together who might not otherwise see each other, especially people of different ages.

When it was time to put the food down, I think I was inside and missed it, but I did get to watch the boys separate out the coals and metal from the dirt, and then shovel the dirt on the corners of the wet cloth and then over the top.  Jax explained to us how to watch for steam and to keep piling dirt on as needed.

Our morning went really fast!  Soon it was time to say thank you and make our way back to school.  We sang a waiata to our hosts and left knowing that some delicious food was going to be ready for us later in the day.  We stopped at the dairy on the way back to school, and arrived just as lunchtime was starting.  Thank you to our Ngā Here Kahikatea students and whanau, and to Whare Manaaki for giving me a morning of learning outside of the classroom that I will remember for a long time.

Kahurumanu & The House that Jack Built #2

 Teeny tiny class yesterday!  John, Ebie and Rivir and I looked at The House That Jack Built, and discussed what it showed about changing relations between Māori and Pākeha in nineteenth century Aotearoa.

Today, in groups, we are going to work on three projects:

1. For seniors, identifying research questions and sources to answer them.

2. Juniors group A: using Kahurumanu to learn about Māori place names in the South Island and add them to our maps.

3. Juniors group B: reading The House the Jack Built and answering the question: what does this picture book tell us about the changing relations between Māori and Pākeha in nineteenth century Aotearoa?  You can record the conversation on your chromebooks, or you can write your answers, or you can create your own story in response using words and pictures.

The House that Jack Built & Kahurumanu

Ngā Here Kahikatea Seniors: For our senior students today, we are going to look at an important picture book that tells a story of Aotearoa.  

Please read The House that Jack Built, by Gavin Bishop, and answer the following questions (set up a doc called 'The House that Jack Built' in your English folder):

1. What do you notice about the illustrations in terms of English and Māori cultural references on each page?  Choose three double-page spreads each (or in pairs, six double page spreads) and describe what you see in each, what portion of the images references Te Ao Māori and what portion references an English world.  How does Bishop show the changes in Aotearoa in each page?

2. Look carefully at the epilogue that Gavin Bishop has written at the end of the text.  How does this link to the work we have done on Te Tiriti o Waitangi?  

3. Think back to the words kawanatanga and rangatiratanga - which of these words do you think triumphed in The House that Jack Built?

Ngā Here Kahikatea Juniors: adding Ngai Tahu stories to our maps.  

Last week we had a look at the Ngai Tahu cultural atlas site, called Kahurumanu, where you can click on a South Island Māori place name (or enter one in the search function) and find out the Ngai Tahu story that goes with that place or area.  This is the result of huge mahi to help all South Islanders know their local stories.  I would like each of you to choose three place names and learn about them using Kahurumanu, and then add them to your map.

Seniors only class: Thursday 4 March 2021

 Mōrena Hayley, Nikau, Rivir & Tiana

Nikau: Did you finish your timeline?  I figure you must be very close.  Your next step is choosing your research questions (2-3).  Your topic is Ngai Tahu and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  The timeline you have done indicates key events in the Ngai Tahu treaty claim.  What questions could you ask to allow you to find out more about specific land sales and foul play?  Can you send me your questions please?  Don't worry about whether you can easily find the answers for your questions - just write the questions!

For example, if I was researching Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Tau Ihu, my questions might be:

1. What were the key land sales in the nineteenth century in this area?

2. Who was involved in setting up Treaty claims, and what was their biggest claim?

Tiana: Same as Nikau - I think you need a bit more time on your timeline first.

Hayley: Here is a useful article on Tamaki Makaurau.  Can you then find 'Waikato Heads' and mark it on your map, and explain why it is significant.

Rivir: I've just found this article about Rongomaiwahine, and the link to Ngati Kahungunu.  Can you read it and see what you think?  You might want to read more from the same site.  

For everyone: I found this article easy to read and interesting - What changed for Five Iwi after the signing of Te Tiriti?

Songs, maps, The Hate You Give

 Today we started reading The Hate You Give.  It was great to see you all enjoying it.  Then we wrote about a song that was important to us and why.  For some students who didn't have a special song now, you wrote about a song you know or a song that was special in your past.

For our second lesson of today's double, we are going to:

• work on our Aotearoa maps, adding our whanau stories to the map
• look at protest songs in Aotearoa.  You can learn more from this article.

For year 11 students, we will put some time into our work on our iwi's experience of Te Tiriti.