Lesson 3: Resistance Networks
How Indigenous Peoples Worldwide Connected, Organized, and Fought Back
Lesson Overview
Focus
Standing strong against injustice.
Key Concept
Solidarity & Tino Rangatiratanga
Outcome
Understanding effective resistance strategies.
🎥 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Video: 1975 Māori Land March
- What network strategies made this resistance movement durable and influential?
- Which tactic could be ethically adapted to current solidarity campaigns?
Karakia Timatanga | Cultural Opening
"Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui"
Be strong, be brave, be steadfast.
These words have echoed through generations of resistance. Today we look at how people stood up for their rights—not just with weapons, but with words, marches, and unity.
Phase 1: Heroes of Resistance (30 minutes)
🖼️ Resistance Profiles
Indigenous leaders have always fought for their people. Let's look at three famous examples.
Dame Whina Cooper
The Land March (1975). Led a hīkoi from the top of NZ to Parliament. "Not one more acre."
Standing Rock (#NoDAPL)
Water Protectors (2016). Thousands gathered to stop an oil pipeline crossing sacred water.
Vincent Lingiari
Wave Hill Walk-Off (1966). 200 Gurindji stockmen walked off a cattle station demanding land rights.
Phase 2: Tools of Resistance (35 minutes)
📊 How do people fight back?
It's not usually about fighting. It's about being smart, organized, and visible.
1. The Law 🏛️
Taking the government to court (e.g., Waitangi Tribunal).
2. The Culture 🎭
Refusing to stop speaking the language (e.g., Kōhanga Reo movement).
3. Direct Action 📢
Occupying land to stop it being sold (e.g., Ihumātao, Bastion Point).
4. Solidarity 🤝
Getting help from other groups around the world.
🗣️ Activity: Strategy Match
Think of a time you had to stand up for yourself. Which of these strategies did you use? Did you use words? Did you get friends to help?
Phase 3: Digital Warriors (25 minutes)
Modern Resistance
Today, people use phones, drones, and social media to protect their land.
Ihumātao: Protecting the Land
Discussion: How does social media help when you are fighting a big government/company? (Think about: sharing video proof, getting donations, telling the story).
Whakamutunga | Reflection
Final Thought:
"Resistance isn't just about saying NO. It's about saying YES to your own culture and future."
Whāia te iti kahurangi. (Seek the treasure you value most dearly.)
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will investigate global indigenous solidarity movements through a historical lens, using whakapapa of resistance to trace how communities have organised across borders to assert tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake. This unit connects Aotearoa's struggle for sovereignty to broader international movements for indigenous rights and decolonisation.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ I can analyse and compare perspectives from multiple indigenous resistance movements globally.
- ✅ I can explain how solidarity across difference has strengthened indigenous rights campaigns.
- ✅ I can evaluate the significance of international indigenous solidarity for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide graphic organisers for comparing movements. Entry-level tasks focus on identifying key events; extension tasks require evaluating the effectiveness of solidarity strategies and writing a persuasive historical argument.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key historical terms (sovereignty, solidarity, colonisation, decolonisation). Provide bilingual glossaries where available; allow discussion in home language first.
Inclusion: Use structured note-taking templates and chunked readings. Neurodiverse learners benefit from visual timelines and choice in how they demonstrate understanding — oral, visual, or written formats all valid. Ensure content is presented sensitively given the potential for personal connection to histories of dispossession.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Centre whakapapa as a methodology — tracing the genealogy of resistance ideas across cultures and time. Frame the hīkoi as both a political act and a cultural expression of rangatiratanga. Connect to the whakataukī: "He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
Prior knowledge: Best used after foundational study of colonisation and the Treaty of Waitangi. Familiarity with basic historical inquiry skills is recommended.
Curriculum alignment
- Social Studies — Understanding: Students understand that historical and contemporary events reflect the perspectives and interests of those involved and their significance for different groups.
- Social Studies — Understanding: Students understand how the Treaty of Waitangi has shaped New Zealand society and the ongoing significance of indigenous rights.