HIS 2.3 · Lesson 2 · Print one set per group of 3 — cut out and sort into Primary / Secondary / Unsure
✓ PRIMARY — created during the event, by a witness
✓ SECONDARY — written about the event, using other sources
? UNSURE — discuss with your group
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1
Government document
Governor Grey's Proclamation to the Waikato People
Written by Governor George Grey, 11 July 1863. Published in the New Zealand Gazette. Declared the Waikato tribes in rebellion and announced confiscation of their land.
"The Government of New Zealand must now proceed to take into its own hands the whole of the country between the Waikato River and the sea..."
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
2
Private letter
Settler family letter from the Waikato
Written by settler Thomas Henderson to his brother in Dunedin, August 1863. Describes hearing gunfire and seeing smoke from nearby fighting. Unpublished; held by the Alexander Turnbull Library.
"We hear the guns at night now. Maria says we must leave but where would we go — this is our farm and our life."
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
3
Newspaper article
"The War in the Waikato" — The Daily Southern Cross
Opinion piece published 3 September 1863. The newspaper was owned by British settlers and supported the government's military campaign. Describes Māori resistance as "treachery."
"The Queen's forces must proceed with firmness. The loyal settler cannot live beside those who have raised the flag of rebellion."
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
4
NZ history textbook
Tides of History: New Zealand 1840–1900
Chapter 7: "The Land Wars — Causes and Consequences." Published by a NZ educational publisher in 2018. Written by two academic historians using archival sources. Used in NCEA Level 2 and 3 courses.
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
5
Recorded speech
Wiremu Tāmihana's speech at Ngāruawāhia, 1858
Speech by Wiremu Tāmihana (known as the "kingmaker"), recorded in writing by a government interpreter and submitted to the Colonial Office, London. Argues for Māori unity under a Māori King as protection against land loss.
"We wish to have a King for ourselves that we may be protected — not to make war, but that the land may be retained by us."
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
6
Oral history — recorded transcript
Kaumātua interview — Waikato oral history project
Oral history interview recorded by the NZ Oral History Centre, 1987. An elder recalls stories passed down from their great-grandparent who survived the 1863–64 fighting. Transcript deposited at Waikato Museum.
"My great-grandmother used to say that when the soldiers came, they had one hour to take what they could carry. Then the house was gone."
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
7
Photograph + caption
Land survey photographs, Waikato confiscated lands
Government survey photographs taken 1865–66 of land confiscated under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863. Photographs show boundary markers placed on former Māori farmland. Held by Archives NZ.
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
8
Waitangi Tribunal report
Waitangi Tribunal — Waikato Raupatu Report (1985)
Official report commissioned by the New Zealand government. The Tribunal analysed evidence from both Crown and Māori sources and concluded that the confiscations (raupatu) of Waikato land were in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi.
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
9
Online encyclopaedia
Wikipedia — "New Zealand Wars"
Wikipedia article. Written and edited by anonymous contributors. Summarises the NZ Wars (1845–72) with information drawn from published histories, government reports, and academic sources. Footnotes link to secondary sources.
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
10
Academic journal article
"Raupatu: Land Confiscation and its Legacy" — Journal of NZ Studies, 2010
Peer-reviewed article by Dr Angela Ballara (Victoria University of Wellington). Uses archival records, Waitangi Tribunal reports, and oral histories to analyse the long-term economic and social effects of the 1863 confiscations.
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
11
Petition
Māori petition to Parliament, 1864
Petition signed by over 200 Waikato rangatira and presented to the NZ Parliament, 1864. Protests the confiscation of land and demands the return of territory taken under the 1863 Act. Original held at Archives NZ.
"We did not rebel against the Queen — we defended our homes. The land belongs to us, not by rebellion, but by birth."
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
12
Government memo — Colonial Office
Governor Grey's memorandum to the Colonial Office, London, 1863
Private government correspondence from Governor Grey to his superiors in London. Explains his rationale for military action in the Waikato. Different in tone from his public proclamations — more openly strategic about land acquisition goals. Held at The National Archives, Kew.
PrimarySecondaryUnsure
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Answer Key (Kaiako only — hide this before distributing)
1 Primary — official document, created at the time
2 Primary — eyewitness letter
3 Primary — also primary evidence of settler opinion
4 Secondary — textbook using other sources
5 Unsure — speech was primary, but recorded by an interpreter (filtered). Discuss.
6 Unsure — oral history of living memory is primary; 3rd-hand memories are secondary. Discuss.
7 Primary — contemporary photographs
8 Secondary — 1985 analysis of 1863 events
9 Secondary — aggregates other sources
10 Secondary — academic analysis
11 Primary — created by participants at the time
12 Primary — but note: different from Card 1. This is the private version. Compare with Card 1 — does the audience change what Grey reveals?