People map
Who are the adults, siblings, cousins, friends, or mentors who help shape you?
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Te Ao Māori • Whakapapa • Years 5-10 • Belonging and story
Whakapapa Connections Map
This handout helps ākonga map identity through people, places, stories, and values. It deliberately avoids forcing a single biological “family tree” model so students in blended, foster, whāngai, adoptive, or complex whānau situations can participate with dignity and truth. The map template below prints to A4, ready to photocopy.
“E kore au e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea.”
I shall never be lost, for I am a seed sown in Rangiātea. (Whakapapa as an unbroken chain of belonging)
Taku Mahere Whakapapa · My Whakapapa Map
Ingoa / Name
Start with yourself in the centre. In each frame, add the people, places, stories, and values you choose to share, then draw lines to show how they connect. If a tree, river, woven pattern, or constellation tells your story better, draw your own shape on the back of this page.
Ngā tāngata · My people
Whānau, friends, teachers, mentors — the people who help shape you.
Ngā wāhi · My places
A maunga, awa, marae, kura, suburb, field, or country in your story.
Ko auMe
Ngā kōrero · My stories
A whānau story, migration journey, memory, or whakataukī you carry.
Ngā uara · My values
Values you inherit or choose to carry: manaakitanga, courage, humour, service.
Share only what you are comfortable sharing. Support people count as whānau here. Labels, arrows, colours, photos, or an oral explanation all work.
Choose the map that fits you
Place map
What maunga, awa, suburb, marae, kura, church, field, or country matters to your story?
Story map
What family story, migration journey, memory, or whakataukī travels with you?
Values map
What values do you inherit or choose to carry: manaakitanga, courage, humour, service, creativity, persistence?
Whānau interview prompts
Who could I talk to? ________________________________________________
One place our whānau connects to is: _________________________________
One story or saying I want to remember is: _____________________________
One responsibility I carry forward is: _________________________________
Explain two important parts of your map
Free classroom starter, premium localisation path
This version is classroom-ready now. If your kura wants a bilingual version, a junior adaptation, a whānau interview sheet, or a local iwi framing, Te Wānanga can reshape the resource while keeping the whakapapa lens respectful and inclusive.
- Turn the map into a digital poster, oral script, or visual art brief.
- Differentiate for support, core, and stretch groups without losing coherence.
- Save your adapted version for later in My Kete or Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 30-45 minutes for mapping plus reflection, or longer if paired with whānau interviews and poster creation.
- Grouping: Individual mapping first, then optional pair kōrero or teacher conference before public sharing.
- Prep: Make it clear that students may map support networks, places, and values rather than only direct biological lines.
- Teaching move: Model one example that includes place, stories, and responsibilities as well as people.
Resources already provided
- Flexible whakapapa lenses: people, place, stories, and values
- Whānau interview prompts and reflection scaffold
- A print-ready A4 map template with frames for people, places, stories, and values
- Support, core, and stretch options
- Curriculum companion for teacher-only planning clarity
If the lesson mentions mapping prompts, interview questions, or poster space, those supports already exist here.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how whakapapa connects identity, place, history, and responsibility.
- We are learning how to gather whānau knowledge with care and respect.
- We are learning how to represent belonging in words, drawings, or both.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can explain at least two parts of my whakapapa map.
- I can include people, places, stories, or values I am comfortable sharing.
- I can show how my map connects identity with belonging and responsibility.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
Use the companion page to make the curriculum link explicit around identity, belonging, whānau knowledge, and how stories of ancestry help sustain culture in Aotearoa.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
Whakapapa is not only a list of ancestors. In mātauranga Māori it can hold relationships across people, whenua, kōrero, taonga, and responsibilities. That makes it a richer and more humane classroom lens than a rigid poster of names in boxes.
Students may have partial knowledge, complex histories, or reasons for privacy. Strong pedagogy allows truthful mapping without forcing disclosure, comparison, or deficit thinking.
Support, core, and stretch pathways
Support
Use one lens only first, such as place or people, and build your map in small chunked steps with teacher conferencing or a trusted partner.
Core
Create a map with at least three connections and explain two of them in writing, audio, or kōrero.
Stretch
Add a whānau story, a value you carry forward, and a reflection on how your map might change over time.
Neurodiversity and inclusion note: offer choice of format, sentence stems, teacher scribing, and private sharing options before expecting public presentation.
Teach this tomorrow
Print or share
- One copy per learner
- Optional coloured pencils or sticky-note labels
Decide before class
- How you will frame privacy, consent, and optional sharing
- Whether students are building solo, with whānau input, or from a class model
Good progress looks like
- Students produce honest maps instead of “correct-looking” but invented ones
- Whakapapa is discussed as connection and responsibility, not only names on a tree
Natural continuation
- Move into pepeha, oral introductions, or whānau story writing
- Adapt it in Te Wānanga for a localised identity unit
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how cultural identity, whakapapa, and tikanga shape people's place in their community and the world; recognise and respect the significance of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the contribution of Māori culture to Aotearoa New Zealand's national identity.
Te Reo Māori — Language and Culture
Level 3–4: Use te reo Māori to express identity, whakapapa, and cultural concepts with accuracy and respect; understand the significance of place names, personal names, and whakapapa as cultural knowledge systems.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, whakapapa is the foundation of all knowledge — the framework through which the origins of people, land, and all living things are understood. A family tree template that only records names and dates captures the structure of whakapapa without its substance: the stories, the connections to place, the obligations that flow between generations. This template invites students to begin with what they know and ask: Who came before me? What did they face? What did they carry forward? What am I called to carry? These questions honour whakapapa not as a historical record but as a living relationship with those who shaped us.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
- Pepeha Builder — use completed whakapapa in a pepeha
- Whakapapa Mathematics — apply mathematical thinking to the family tree
- Unit 1 Whakapapa Poster Template — present the family tree as a poster
- Unit 1 Guided Inquiry Project — use whakapapa as the starting point for cultural inquiry