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Years 7–8 Tikanga-ā-Iwi / Social Sciences

Lesson 3: Standing Strong Together

How Indigenous peoples support each other across the world — from haka for Standing Rock to everyday tautoko.

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Lesson 3: Standing Strong Together

How Indigenous peoples support each other across the world

Duration: 60 minutes | Year level: Years 7–8 | Subject: Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi

Lesson at a Glance

"Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui" — Be strong, be brave, be steadfast.

We know now that Indigenous peoples share values and have shared hard times. Here is the best part: they stand together. When one people is fighting to protect their land or their rights, other peoples send support — sometimes from the other side of the world. Today we look at real examples, and think about how we could stand with others too.

What We Are Learning (Ngā Whāinga Ako)

I am learning to…

  • describe a real example of one people supporting another
  • name some ways peoples show support across distance
  • suggest a way I could stand with another group

I will know I can do this when…

  • I can retell one solidarity story in my own words
  • I can name two ways peoples support each other
  • I can finish: "One way I could stand with someone is ______."

Lesson Structure

Do Now: Who has stood up for you? (10 minutes)

Think of a time someone stood up for you — a friend, a whānau member, a teammate. What did they do? How did it feel to know someone had your back?

Pair-share: tell your partner one word for how it felt.

Activity 1: Haka for Standing Rock (20 minutes)

In 2016, in a place called Standing Rock in the United States, a Native American people were trying to protect their river from a pipeline. People all around the world wanted to help. In Aotearoa, groups of Māori performed haka and shared the videos online to show their support — a message that said, "We stand with you." The videos were watched by people all over the world.

Talk about it in groups:

  • Why do you think a haka was a powerful way to show support?
  • Standing Rock is thousands of kilometres away. Why would Māori care?
  • What did this cost the people doing it? What did it give?

Activity 2: Ways Peoples Stand Together (15 minutes)

Sending a haka is one way. Here are others peoples use. With a partner, tick the ones you could imagine doing, and add one of your own.

Share a song or haka

Perform and share it to send a message of tautoko (support).

Send a message

Write or record words of support to send to another group.

Learn their story

Find out what is happening and tell others, so more people care.

Show up

Turn up to an event, or help raise koha (a gift) to support them.

Whakamutunga — Wrap-up (5 minutes)

Exit ticket — finish these:

  1. One real example of peoples standing together is ______.
  2. Two ways peoples show support are ______ and ______.
  3. One way I could stand with someone is ______.

Next lesson:

We look at one big thing Indigenous peoples stand together for: caring for our earth.

Assessment & Differentiation

How to check learning (formative)

  • Group talk: can students explain why the haka was a powerful message?
  • Ways-to-support activity: can they name realistic ways to stand with others?
  • Exit ticket: can they name a real example and a personal action?

Differentiation (Years 7–8)

  • Need more support: watch a short haka-tautoko clip together and retell it as a class before the group talk.
  • Ready for more: find one other example of peoples supporting each other and share it.
  • Belonging: honour students who have supported others in their own lives — that is solidarity too.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Third lesson of the Years 7–8 Global Connections unit. Building on shared values (L1) and shared history (L2), students meet solidarity — peoples actively supporting one another. The Standing Rock haka is the concrete anchor: a real, well-documented moment when Māori sent support across the world. Kept hopeful and action-focused; feeds directly into the L7 project.

Facts this lesson relies on (checkable)

  • In 2016, Māori groups performed haka in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the videos were widely shared.
  • Solidarity actions like this are voluntary expressions of tautoko, not organised by any government.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Keep it hopeful: the focus is support and agency, not the details of conflict. Preview any video for suitability.

Mātauranga Māori lens: haka carries mana and message; sending a haka across the world is whanaungatanga and manaakitanga in action.

Curriculum alignment

  • Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi — Phase 3 (Years 7–8): how and why groups of people support one another and take collective action. (Verbatim Te Mātaiaho statement to be confirmed by the curriculum verification lane — cited here at learning-area + phase level.)