These are historically grounded composite profiles, not real people. They deliberately do not tell you what the person thinks. Your task is to reason from context without inventing feelings. After new evidence, you may revise your decision.
A · Waikato farm worker, age 20
Born in New Zealand; parents were born in Britain.
Works with whānau on a farm that depends on export trade.
Local newspapers and public meetings strongly support the Empire.
Several friends are talking about enlisting.
Do not assume: patriotism, enthusiasm or opposition. The profile gives context, not an inner voice.
B · Ngāti Porou rangatahi, age 19
Lives on the East Coast.
Local Māori leaders, including Āpirana Ngata, are actively encouraging enlistment.
Service is being discussed in relation to Māori recognition and collective contribution.
Whānau views are not given.
Do not assume: that all Ngāti Porou people agreed or that leadership automatically determined individual choice.
C · Waikato-Tainui rangatahi, age 20
Whānau history includes Crown invasion and raupatu in the nineteenth century.
Kīngitanga remains an important political and community reality.
The British Crown is asking New Zealanders to serve overseas.
Your individual opinion is not supplied.
Do not assume: automatic opposition. Historical context helps explain choices; it does not predetermine every person.
D · Registered nurse, age 29
Trained and working in a New Zealand hospital.
Combat enlistment is not an option, but overseas nursing service may become one.
War service could mean leaving family and employment for a dangerous, uncertain role.
Nurses experience patriotism, adventure, professional ambition and pressure in different combinations.
Question: what counts as “going to war” if your role is medical rather than combat?
E · Factory / wharf worker, age 24
Your weekly wage helps support other people in your household.
War may create work and economic pressure at the same time.
Public rhetoric describes enlistment as duty; labour communities contain a range of political views.
No personal political position is supplied.
Question: how do family obligation and national obligation interact?
F · Recent immigrant household, age 21
You were born in New Zealand; one or both parents were born elsewhere.
Your family is still establishing its place in local community life.
Wartime nationalism can create both belonging and suspicion.
No personal opinion is supplied.
Question: can military service become a way of proving belonging — and who gets asked to prove it?
Decision 1 · before the evidence
Would your person volunteer now? Choose yes · no · unsure. Give two reasons based only on the profile. Mark any statement that is an inference rather than a fact.
Evidence round
Your kaiako will now add recruitment evidence, Māori service / opposition evidence, and information about New Zealand’s relationship with Britain. For each new piece, record:
What does this evidence add?
Does it make one option more understandable?
Does it tell you what your person must think? Usually, no.
Decision 2 · revise if the evidence moves you
Keep or change your decision. Finish: I used to think… Now I think… The evidence that mattered most was… One thing I still cannot know is…
Kaiako note: this activity is perspective-taking, not historical role-play that pretends students can become people from the past. Students reason from bounded context and explicitly separate evidence from invented interiority.