Family Tree Writing
Family Tree Writing · Years 7–9
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Read and interpret texts for meaning, purpose, and author intent
- Identify and analyse language choices, text structure, and rhetorical techniques
- Write clearly and purposefully for a specific audience using appropriate conventions
- Evaluate the credibility and perspective of texts and sources
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- I can identify the author's purpose and explain how the text achieves it
- I can point to specific language choices and explain their effect on the reader
- My writing is clear, focused, and uses appropriate conventions for the form
- I can evaluate a source's credibility with reference to specific textual evidence
Family Tree Writing — Tāku Whakapapa
🌳 Researching, recording, and writing about whānau and tīpunaA family tree is more than a diagram — it is a map of belonging. Every name on it represents a person with a history, a place, a set of choices, and a story. This handout guides you through: researching your whakapapa or family history, interviewing the people who hold it, building a visual tree, and writing a compelling narrative about one person whose life shaped the world you grew up in.
Whose story you tell is your choice
Not everyone can fill in a family tree, and no one has to. If you are whāngai or adopted, if your whānau records were lost or never kept, if you have arrived in Aotearoa recently, or if this is simply not something you want to write about, you have the same options as everyone else. Choose any one of these:
- someone in your whānau;
- someone who raised you or matters to you, whether or not you are related;
- a person from your hapū, iwi, community, church or neighbourhood whose story you can research;
- a documented historical figure from Aotearoa.
Every part of this handout works exactly the same way with any of those choices. You will never be required to hand in information about your own family, and what you choose here does not affect your grade. If you are researching a person outside your own whānau, ask their people first — the same protocols apply.
Part 1 — Rangahau: Research Methods
Good family history research uses multiple sources and cross-references information. Here are the main sources you can use:
| Source | What you can find | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Kaumātua / elders | Whakapapa lines, stories, iwi connections, oral history | Memory can vary; respect protocols required |
| Birth/death/marriage certificates | Dates, locations, parents' names | Only post-1848 in NZ; Māori names sometimes anglicised |
| Papakāinga records / marae | Land ownership, hapū membership, hui minutes | Access may require whānau permission |
| Papers Past (paperspast.natlib.govt.nz) | Historical newspaper articles, death notices, court records | Spelling inconsistencies in Māori names |
| Family photos and taonga | Visual evidence, approximate dates, location clues | Can be misidentified or undated |
| Iwi / hapū websites and trusts | Official whakapapa registrations, Treaty settlement records | Not all hapū have digitised records |
- List THREE sources you will use to research your own family history. For each, write one specific piece of information you hope to find.
- Tikanga question: When approaching a kaumātua for whakapapa information, what protocols should you follow? Research: what does it mean to approach elders with "aroha" (love), "manaakitanga" (respect), and "whakaaro" (thoughtfulness)? Write 3–4 sentences.
- If your family is not from a Māori or Pacific background, how can you still apply the concept of whakapapa (the layering of connections across generations) to your own ancestral story? Write 2–3 sentences.
Part 2 — He Uiuinga: Planning the Interview
The richest family history comes from kanohi ki te kanohi — face-to-face conversation. Before you interview a family member or elder, you need good questions.
🌿 Types of Interview Questions
- Factual: "Where were you born? What year did [ancestor] come to NZ?"
- Descriptive: "What did Nana look like? What was her daily routine?"
- Emotional: "What do you think was hardest for her? What made her laugh?"
- Reflective: "What do you think she would think about our world today?"
- Connective: "What do you see in me that comes from her?"
- Write 10 interview questions for a whānau member, using at least two of each type above. Order them so the conversation flows naturally from facts → feelings → reflection.
- After your interview, you will need to write a thank-you note. Write a brief (4–6 sentence) thank-you note draft that acknowledges what they shared, uses the word "manaakitanga," and names one specific thing you learned.
Part 3 — Te Rākau Whakapapa: Building Your Tree
Complete the family tree template below. Use what you know and leave blank spaces where you need more research. For Māori whānau: you can use traditional whakapapa ordering (from tīpuna flowing down to mokopuna).
- Add birth years, locations, and occupations (where known) next to each name on the tree. Circle any names where you want more information — these become your research priorities.
- Look at your tree as a whole. Is there one person you know almost nothing about? Write their name and three questions you would most like answered about their life.
Part 4 — He Kōrero Tīpuna: Writing the Ancestor Narrative
Choose one person from your tree — or the person you chose at the start of this handout — and write a 250–400 word narrative about them. This is not a report — it is a story told with warmth, detail, and reflection. Use the writing frame below to structure your draft.
🌳 Whakamutunga — Ko wai koe?
The question "Ko wai koe?" — Who are you? — is answered in Māori tradition not with a job title or personality, but with whakapapa: the mountain, the river, the people. When you research your family tree, you are finding your own answer to that question. You are making a map of all the lives that had to happen for you to be here.
Te wero: Share your ancestor narrative with the person you interviewed. Ask them what they think. Add anything they correct or add. The collaboration itself is part of the whakapapa.
🌿 Ngā Rauemi Hono — Related Resources
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Curriculum alignment for this handout has not yet been verified against the live curriculum statements. A generated placeholder that stood here was removed on 2026-08-29 because it matched no real statement.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts
Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, language — reo — is a taonga: a treasure that carries culture, identity, and whakapapa across generations. The ability to speak clearly, to argue persuasively, to read critically, and to write with purpose are not simply academic skills — they are forms of mana in action. Māori oratory (whaikōrero) has always valued precision, evidence, and the ability to locate one's argument within a broader cultural and ancestral context. Students who develop strong literacy skills are developing the same capacities that made great orators powerful: the ability to be heard, understood, and taken seriously in any room they enter.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided
This handout is designed to be used alongside other resources in the same unit. Related materials are linked in the unit planner. All content is provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
Curriculum alignment
- Focus of this resource: Understand how cultural identity shapes participation in society — whakapapa, tikanga, and mana as foundations of Māori identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.