Enrichment Suggestion (LF_History): Focus on the Native Land Court as a "weapon of war by other means". Use primary source quotes from politicians of the time who explicitly stated their goal was to destroy tribal communism.
Discussion: How did it feel when the rules changed without your agreement? Who improved their position, and who lost out?
Before 1865, land belonged to the Hapū (collective). You couldn't buy it from one person because everyone owned it.
"The object of the Native Lands Act was... the detribalisation of the Natives - to destroy, if it were possible, the principle of communism upon which their social system was based."
- Henry Sewell, Minister of Justice, 1870
In the 1890s, the government introduced a tax on dogs.
Hōne Tōia led a resistance. They refused to pay. The government sent 120 soldiers with machine guns to collect the tax.
Discussion: Is it fair to tax people who don't use the currency?
We'll finish the unit by looking forward: Building Alternatives. How can we design a fairer economic future?
Use this clip to connect historical land dispossession with present-day economic opportunity gaps.
Students will engage with this resource to critically examine economic systems — understanding how wealth, power, and resources are distributed in Aotearoa New Zealand, and exploring indigenous and alternative economic frameworks that prioritise collective wellbeing, mana, and tino rangatiratanga over individual accumulation.
Scaffold support: Provide structured comparison frameworks (e.g., two-column tables: "current system vs alternative") for entry-level access. Offer extension tasks asking students to research a specific Māori economic enterprise (e.g., Ngāi Tahu Holdings, Tainui Group Holdings) and evaluate how it balances commercial success with cultural values.
ELL / ESOL: Economic concepts (equity, redistribution, exploitation, surplus value, collective ownership) need concrete grounding — use local NZ examples and visual infographics. Allow oral discussion of economic justice issues before written analysis. Draw connections to students' home countries' economic systems as valid comparative frameworks.
Inclusion: Economic discussions can touch on students' lived experiences of poverty, precarity, or privilege — create a safe, non-judgmental space. Neurodiverse learners benefit from concrete case studies rather than abstract theory. Frame economic justice as a systems problem, not a personal failing — this reframe is both accurate and inclusive.
Mātauranga Māori lens: The Māori economy before colonisation was not "primitive" — it was a sophisticated system of reciprocal exchange (utu), collective resource management (rāhui, kaitiakitanga), redistribution through manaakitanga, and wealth measured in relationships and obligations rather than individual accumulation. Colonisation deliberately disrupted these systems through land confiscation and the introduction of individual title. Contemporary Māori economic development — through iwi corporations, Māori land trusts, and social enterprises — represents a reclamation of rangatiratanga in the economic sphere. The concept of ōhanga Māori (Māori economy) offers a genuinely alternative framework for thinking about justice, sufficiency, and collective flourishing.
Prior knowledge: Students benefit from basic familiarity with how markets and governments work. No specialist economics knowledge required — the unit builds this progressively through accessible case studies.
High-quality resources from official New Zealand education sites to extend and enrich this learning content.
Detailed account of the 1898 uprising in Hokianga against the dog tax.
Examples and history of the Land Court's impact on Māori land ownership.