He pātai: How could Māori leaders care deeply about Māori futures and still reach different conclusions about military service?
1863 Crown invasion of Waikato → raupatu → Kīngitanga relationships with the Crown → Tāwhiao’s later commitment against renewed warfare → 1914 war → 1916 general conscription → 1917 extension to Māori, applied in practice to Tainui-Waikato.
Annotate the chain: which earlier events could change how a 1917 government demand was understood?
Position: supported Waikato men resisting conscription.
Historical grounding: Crown invasion / raupatu, Kīngitanga, Tāwhiao’s injunction against renewed warfare, and rejection of compulsory service for a Crown whose relationship with Waikato remained marked by confiscation and grievance.
Do not reduce to: “anti-war” or “disloyal”.
Question: can loyalty to Waikato, whānau and Kīngitanga conflict with the state’s definition of national duty?
Position: encouraged Māori recruitment and supported extending conscription.
Historical grounding: Pōmare chaired the Native Contingent Committee and argued that service could demonstrate that Māori should be recognised as full citizens sharing national obligations.
Do not reduce to: “supported Britain”.
Question: can service be used politically to demand fuller recognition within citizenship?
Position: strongly promoted Māori enlistment and sustained recruitment.
Historical grounding: Ngata connected service to Māori contribution, recognition and future standing. The draft 2027 Years 9–10 curriculum explicitly uses Ngata as a contrasting advocacy voice alongside Te Puea.
Do not reduce to: “same as Pōmare”.
Question: where do Ngata’s hopes and strategy overlap with Pōmare — and where does the evidence require distinction?
A 1918 New Zealand Herald report used language that framed Waikato resistance as disloyal and treated military obedience as the measure of dignity and patriotism. Use a short excerpt supplied by your kaiako.
Source task: underline loaded words. What does the article reveal about the newspaper’s framing? What can it not prove about Waikato motives?
For each leader, complete:
It is 1917–18. Your group is advising a Waikato whānau whose son may be called in the ballot. You are not pretending to be that whānau. Prepare advice that:
“Refusing conscription can be an act of loyalty.” Choose a position, then explain what loyalty is directed toward in your reasoning. You may change position after kōrero — but name the evidence that moved you.