Lesson 1: Whānaungatanga Across Borders — Global Indigenous Networks
Discovering the shared experiences of colonisation, land loss, and resistance that connect Māori to Indigenous peoples across Te Ao — and why these connections matter for Aotearoa today.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
Key concepts: colonisation, indigenous rights, sovereignty, self-determination, and transnational solidarity. Which Indigenous nations share structural experiences with Māori (land confiscation, language suppression, treaty violation).
Map five global Indigenous peoples onto a world map with their key rights struggle; write a whakapapa-inspired description of why Māori and one other Indigenous nation are 'whanaunga' (kin).
🎥 Media Anchor & Discussion Scaffold
Global Indigenous Solidarity: Connecting Peoples & Movements
Watch the full clip — 5:26. Source: wc nativenews.
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Inquire)
What does 'Indigenous' mean? Name three Indigenous peoples from different countries. What do you think they might have in common with Māori? What might be different?
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Critical Inquiry)
- Capture as you watch: the clip contrasts two ways of seeing the world. Build a two-column table — Indigenous worldview / Western worldview — and record every contrast it actually names. Do not add your own.
- Listen for relationship: how is the relationship between people and land described on each side? Quote a phrase from the clip for each.
- Hold a question: the clip speaks about Indigenous peoples generally. Note one place where you think te ao Māori would fit, and one where you are not sure it would.
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Discussion (Process & Connect)
Kaiako Provocation: Display a world map and place te reo Māori next to the language names of other Indigenous languages. Discuss: which languages are thriving, which are endangered, and why. Connect to the whakataukī: 'Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini' — my strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.
Inquiry Task: Global Whanaunga Map: Research and annotate a world map with five Indigenous peoples. For each: locate them, name their language, describe one key rights struggle, and identify ONE point of connection to Māori experience.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: Inquiry Hook (5 mins)
In 60 seconds: where in the world do Indigenous peoples live? Think beyond Aotearoa — how many countries have First Nations, Aboriginal, or tribal peoples? Estimate a number and we'll find out together.
🌏 Activity 1: Research & Analysis (25 mins)
Jigsaw research — in groups of five, each person researches one Indigenous people (Sámi, Sioux/Lakota, West Papuan, Aboriginal Australian, Māori). Groups reassemble and share key findings to build a class solidarity map.
✍️ Activity 2: Synthesis & Advocacy Writing (20 mins)
Reflective writing: 'Ko tātou, ko rātou — We are them, they are us.' Write 150 words explaining the connection between Māori experience of colonisation and that of one global Indigenous community. Use at least two specific facts from today's research.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Curriculum Alignment: Te Mataiaho Social Sciences Level 5 — Students explore how people's social, cultural, and economic roles, rights, and responsibilities relate to each other across different societies.
Cultural Sensitivity: Handle current conflicts (West Papua, Standing Rock) with care — students may have personal connections to these communities. Centre Indigenous voices and perspectives; avoid centring settler/state narratives.
Treaty Connections: Each lesson connects to the Treaty of Waitangi and Aotearoa's specific decolonisation journey, ensuring local grounding for global learning.