🚀 Contemporary Applications — Tino Rangatiratanga Now
This final lesson brings the unit forward into the present. Whakapapa is not only a bridge to the past — it is a foundation for the future. Contemporary Māori leaders, innovators, and movements are exercising tino rangatiratanga across technology, arts, governance, health, and the environment. Ākonga now connect who they are to who they want to become.
Pātai Matua — Central Questions
Ko wai au, ā, ko wai tōku ao ā muri ake nei? — Who am I, and who will I be?
How does whakapapa ground contemporary Māori innovation and leadership?
What does tino rangatiratanga look like in technology, arts, governance, and health today?
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Identify contemporary Māori leaders and innovators across multiple domains.
Research a current Māori-led initiative and connect it to the themes of this unit.
Connect whakapapa and mātauranga Māori to future personal aspirations.
✅ Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
I can describe a contemporary Māori leader and explain what connects them to te ao Māori.
I have researched and can explain one contemporary Māori initiative.
I have written a personal whakaaro connecting my identity to my future.
🧭 NZ Curriculum Alignment
Social Studies L4–5: Contemporary NZ society, Māori agency and leadership.
The Arts & Technology: Māori innovation across creative and technical domains.
Career Education: Identity, aspiration, and future pathways.
Years 7–10 · Term 1 · Weeks 7–8 · Unit Summary Lesson
🙏 Karakia Tīmatanga
🎥 Media Anchor
Video: Contemporary Māori Leadership and Innovation
How is tino rangatiratanga expressed in contemporary contexts?
What action can rangatahi take to uphold kaupapa in their communities?
Whakataka te hau ki uta,
Whakataka te hau ki tai.
Kia mākinakina ki uta,
Kia mātaratara ki tai.
E hī ake ana te atakura.
He tio, he huka, he hau hū.
Tūturu o whiti whakamaua kia tīna. Tīna!
Hui e! Tāiki e!
This is the fifth and final time we open with this karakia in Unit 1. Ask ākonga: how has your relationship to this karakia changed across five lessons?
Discussion opener: "What does it mean to lead from a Māori worldview? What threads connect leadership in technology, finance, activism, and international relations?" Present the four profiles below, then open for class discussion.
Sir Ian Taylor (Ngāti Kahungunu)
Founder of Animation Research Limited — the company that created the virtual graphics for America's Cup broadcasts and cricket on-screen analysis. Sir Ian is a pioneer in technology and digital storytelling, working to bring te reo Māori and Māori narratives into the digital age. He is a passionate advocate for digital inclusion in Māori and Pacific communities.
Domain: Technology / Digital Innovation
Hinerangi Raumati (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato)
One of Aotearoa's most prominent Māori financial leaders. As CEO of Patahou, she works to build Māori economic sovereignty — using business and investment as a tool for community wellbeing and rangatiratanga. Her work demonstrates that financial leadership can be deeply grounded in tikanga and whakapapa.
Domain: Finance / Economic Sovereignty
Tame Iti (Tūhoe)
Artist and activist. Tame Iti has used art, protest, and performance to advance Tūhoe sovereignty and Māori rights for decades. His work — from facial tā moko to performance art that challenges state power — shows that art and activism are inseparable. He represents the long tradition of Māori creative resistance.
Domain: Arts / Activism / Tino Rangatiratanga
Nanaia Mahuta (Waikato-Tainui)
The first woman to wear tā moko (facial tattoo) in the New Zealand Parliament. As Minister of Foreign Affairs (2020–2023), she articulated a Pacific and Māori-centred foreign policy approach — "a foreign policy from the Pacific" — and engaged with global Māori diaspora. A bridge between ancient identity and international diplomacy.
Domain: International Relations / Governance
Discussion — What Is the Common Thread?
All four leaders work in entirely different domains — yet what connects them?
How does each one carry whakapapa, tikanga, and identity into their professional role?
What does it mean to lead as a Māori person rather than despite being a Māori person?
2. Research Task — Contemporary Māori Initiatives (25 min)
Ākonga choose a domain and research a current Māori-led initiative. This can be individual or pair research. Provide devices and printed resource cards. Ākonga complete a structured research template (or equivalent in their notes).
Choose a Domain and Initiative:
Technology
Ātea — Māori technology advisory company working to ensure Māori data sovereignty and digital rights
Te Hiku Media — developed the world's first te reo Māori speech recognition AI using principles of data sovereignty
Pāpāmoa Labs — Māori-founded technology incubator supporting rangatahi in STEM
Environment / Food
Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae (South Auckland) — urban marae practising food sovereignty through market gardens, composting, and community food distribution
Te Kotahitanga o Te Arawa — restoring Rotorua lakes through traditional ecological knowledge
Arts / Culture
Te Papa digital collections — repatriating taonga digitally; making mātauranga Māori accessible globally while maintaining iwi authority
Wāhine Toa — collective of Māori women artists redefining representation in NZ art
Te Matatini — national kapa haka competition growing as a vehicle for revitalising te reo and tikanga
Health / Hauora
Wai ora — Māori health models integrating tikanga, rongoā, and Western medicine
Te Whatu Ora Māori Health — Crown entity tasked with closing health equity gaps using a Te Tiriti framework
Hāpai te Hauora — national Māori public health organisation leading tobacco-free campaigns and mental health initiatives
Research Template — Four Questions:
What is this initiative? (Name, founders, what it does, where it operates)
What problem does it solve or what goal does it pursue? (Describe in your own words)
How does it connect to mātauranga Māori, whakapapa, or tikanga? (Which values or traditions ground this work?)
What does this tell us about what tino rangatiratanga looks like today? (Your analysis)
Ākonga share their findings in a brief 2-minute whakamārama (explanation) to the class, in pairs, or to a small group. The goal is peer learning — each ākonga becomes a brief expert.
3. Connecting Back — Whakapapa to Leadership (10 min)
Synthesis moment: This activity connects Lesson 1 (whakapapa and identity) to Lesson 5 (contemporary leadership). The thread running through the unit is that knowing who you are enables you to act with purpose.
Kaiako-led discussion — draw or display the following connections on a class whiteboard or screen:
Lesson 1 → Lesson 5
Whakapapa gives you roots — the foundation of your identity.
Turangawaewae gives you a place to stand — grounded presence in the world.
Whanaungatanga gives you relationships — you are not alone, you are connected.
Together, these enable tino rangatiratanga — the authority and confidence to lead from who you are.
Discussion Pātai:
Sir Ian Taylor, Nanaia Mahuta, Tame Iti — what did their whakapapa give them that shapes how they lead?
Can someone lead from a Māori worldview without knowing their whakapapa? What is lost?
What does this mean for ākonga who are not Māori? Can turangawaewae play a similar role?
4. Final Whakaaro — Ko Wai Au, Ā, Ko Wai Tōku Ao? (10 min)
Final Reflection — Write 100 Words
In te reo Māori and/or English:
"Ko wai au, ā, ko wai tōku ao ā muri ake nei?" Who am I — and who will I be?
Guidance for Ākonga:
This reflection does not need to be polished or perfect — it needs to be honest. Draw on what you have learned across this unit:
Who are you? (Your whakapapa, turangawaewae, identity — Lesson 1)
What knowledge do you carry or want to carry? (Mātauranga — Lesson 2)
How do you express who you are to the world? (Performance, language, art — Lesson 3)
What are your rights and responsibilities as a person in Aotearoa? (Te Tiriti — Lesson 4)
What domain of leadership or innovation feels like home to you? What do you want to contribute? (Lesson 5)
These whakaaro will be collected as the final formative assessment piece for Unit 1. They also serve as a baseline for ākonga identity — something that can be revisited at the end of the year or at the end of secondary school.
🌺 Unit 1 Summary — What We Have Learned
Five Core Ideas
Whakapapa is a living framework for identity — connecting person to land, ancestors, and community.
Mātauranga Māori is a complete and valid knowledge system alongside Western science.
Haka is literature, politics, and collective embodiment — not a war dance.
Te Tiriti is the founding document of Aotearoa — and it promised rangatiratanga, not assimilation.
Tino rangatiratanga is alive today — in technology, arts, governance, health, and environmental leadership.
For All Ākonga
Whether you are Māori, Pākehā, Pasifika, Asian, or of any other background — this unit is for you. Aotearoa's identity is shaped by te ao Māori. Understanding that world is not optional — it is the foundation of being a citizen of this place.
Knowing who you are — whakapapa or turangawaewae — gives you the roots to grow towards what you want to become.
Moving Forward
This unit is a foundation. The questions raised here — about identity, knowledge, treaty rights, cultural expression, and leadership — will recur throughout your education and your life.
Keep your pepeha. Return to it. Add to it as you learn more. It is yours — and it will grow with you.
Mātauranga Māori station notes and Venn diagram (Lesson 2).
Class ngeri text contribution and reflection (Lesson 3).
Treaty matching activity and reflection (Lesson 4).
Research summary and final whakaaro (Lesson 5) — key summative piece.
Differentiation
Scaffold: Sentence starters for final whakaaro; use of visual research template; peer support in research task.
Extend: Create a 3-minute video profile of a Māori leader of their choice — pitch to the class as a "future portrait of tino rangatiratanga."
All learners: The final whakaaro is assessed for engagement and personal connection, not grammatical perfection. Both te reo Māori and English are equally valid.
Resources
Research domain cards (one per initiative listed).
Devices for internet research.
Research template worksheet.
Final whakaaro reflection sheet (A4).
Optional: class "Wall of Leaders" display — ākonga profile cards from research task.
🙏 Karakia Whakamutunga — Final Closing
Unuhia, unuhia, unuhia ki uta rā.
Kia wātea, kia māmā.
Āe rā. Āe rā. Āe!
Remove, remove, remove to the shore. So that we are free and lightened. Yes indeed!
This closes Unit 1: Te Ao Māori — Cultural Identity and Knowledge. Five lessons, five weeks, five dimensions of a living worldview that is woven into the fabric of Aotearoa.
Ākonga leave this unit with a pepeha, a knowledge of mātauranga, an understanding of haka, a grasp of Te Tiriti, and a vision of what contemporary tino rangatiratanga looks like. They leave knowing that they are part of this story — regardless of their whakapapa.
"Ko tō reo, ko tōku reo. Ko tō kiri, ko tōku kiri. Ko tōu ao, ko tōku ao." Your language is my language. Your skin is my skin. Your world is my world.