👪🌍 I te Taha o Tōku Māmā/Pāpā
Adding parental lineage and ancestral origins
📚 Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
WALT:
- Express ancestral origins through parental lineage
- Use the pattern "I te taha o tōku māmā/pāpā"
- Say where our tīpuna (ancestors) come from
- Complete the final lines of our pepeha
📋 Lesson Flow (60 mins)
🗣️ Whānau Interview Share-Back (15 mins)
Activity: Students share what they learned from their whānau interview (Lesson 3 homework).
- Did you discover your iwi? Hapū?
- What surprised you?
- What questions do you still have?
Celebrate: Students who learned something new about their whakapapa!
📖 New Pattern: Parental Lineage (20 mins)
The Pattern:
I te taha o tōku [māmā/pāpā], nō [Country/Place] ōku tīpuna.
On my [mother's/father's] side, my ancestors are from [Country/Place].
Vocabulary:
- I te taha o = on the side of
- tōku māmā = my mother
- tōku pāpā = my father
- nō = from
- ōku tīpuna = my ancestors (plural)
Example:
I te taha o tōku māmā, nō Aotearoa ōku tīpuna.
On my mother's side, my ancestors are from New Zealand.
I te taha o tōku pāpā, nō Ingarangi ōku tīpuna.
On my father's side, my ancestors are from England.
🌍 Countries in Te Reo Māori (10 mins)
Don't see your country? Ask your teacher or look it up in the Māori Dictionary.
🏗️ Build Your Full Pepeha (15 mins)
Now you should have ALL the lines! Work on your Pepeha Builder Template.
Complete Pepeha Structure:
- Ko [Maunga] tōku maunga.
- Ko [Awa] tōku awa.
- Ko [Waka] tōku waka.
- Ko [Iwi] tōku iwi.
- Ko [Hapū] tōku hapū.
- (Optional) I te taha o tōku māmā, nō [Place] ōku tīpuna.
- (Optional) I te taha o tōku pāpā, nō [Place] ōku tīpuna.
- Nō [Place] ahau. / Kei [Place] ahau e noho ana.
- Ko [Name] tōku ingoa.
Practice: In pairs, take turns saying your COMPLETE pepeha. Give feedback on pronunciation.
⚡ Rerekētanga — Differentiation
- Students can use shorter version (skip parental lines)
- Provide audio recordings to listen to
- Allow reading from written pepeha
- Add grandparent lineage: "I te taha o tōku kuia..."
- Research ancestral stories from original countries
- Create a visual family tree with pepeha elements
👩🏫 Teacher Notes
- This pattern is excellent for students with mixed heritage — it allows them to acknowledge BOTH sides.
- Students with single parents, adopted, or in foster care can adapt: use "whānau" or their current caregivers' origins if they prefer.
- The parental lineage lines are OPTIONAL in pepeha — students shouldn't feel pressured to include them.
- Next lesson discusses when mihimihi is more appropriate than pepeha.
🎬 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Media Anchor: Whakapapa Through Performance
- Which element of performance communicates whakapapa most clearly?
- How can you carry that sense of connection into your family line section?
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to craft and perform their personal pepeha — the traditional introduction that locates a person within their whakapapa, connecting maunga, awa, waka, iwi, hapū, and ingoa. Pepeha is one of the most important communicative acts in Te Ao Māori: it establishes identity, relationship, and belonging.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can recite or write their personal pepeha using the correct structural elements with accurate pronunciation.
- ✅ Students can explain the significance of each element of their pepeha — why maunga, awa, waka, iwi, hapū, and ingoa matter as identity markers.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide pepeha sentence frames with blanks for students to complete at the entry level. For students without known iwi or whakapapa connections — due to adoption, Pākehā or non-Māori heritage, or other circumstances — offer a mihimihi alternative that connects to their place, school, and whānau. Extend students who have completed their pepeha by asking them to research the history and significance of their maunga or awa.
ELL / ESOL: Pepeha is a context where home-language connection is a strength, not a barrier — encourage students to reflect on equivalent identity-introduction forms in their own cultural traditions. Pre-teach key kupu (maunga = mountain, awa = river, waka = canoe/ancestral vessel, iwi = tribe, hapū = subtribe, ingoa = name). Model pronunciation using te reo Māori audio resources.
Inclusion: Some students may have complex relationships to identity — adoption, disconnection from whakapapa, or non-Māori backgrounds. Create a safe, non-judgemental space where all identity expressions are honoured. Neurodiverse learners benefit from visual pepeha maps (name → maunga → awa → waka → iwi → hapū → ingoa as a connected diagram). Oral performance can be adapted — some students may prefer written or recorded formats.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Pepeha is not a language exercise — it is a relational and philosophical act. It expresses the understanding that people do not exist as isolated individuals: we are located in landscape, whakapapa, and community. Ko au ko te maunga, ko te maunga ko au — I am the mountain, the mountain is me. This reciprocal relationship between person and place is foundational to Te Ao Māori. Teaching pepeha is teaching identity, belonging, and mana.
Prior knowledge: No prior te reo Māori knowledge required. Students benefit from a brief class discussion about identity and what makes us who we are before beginning their pepeha.
Curriculum alignment
- Te Reo Māori — Communicating: Introduce themselves and others using personal information, including pepeha and mihimihi, drawing on knowledge of their own identity and connections to place.
- Identity, Culture, and Organisation: Understand how identity is shaped by connections to place, whakapapa, and cultural community — and how these connections are expressed through tikanga Māori.