Arrival and settlement of Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand

Large traditional double-hulled vaka in Rarotonga moored with sails let down

Image credit: Large traditional double-hulled vaka in Rarotonga by Teinesavaii. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image cropped.

Here are curated teaching and learning resources related to themes about the arrival and settlement of Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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These curiosity cards use images and fertile questions to spark student inquiry:

This topic from Topic Explorer has quality, curated resources, including websites, images, videos, books and more:

Explore these pages from Tuia Mātauranga to highlight people, places and events that have helped shape our nation:

This entry from Many Answers guides students to reliable and trustworthy resources:

A popular book related to this topic is Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and Their Polynesian Ancestors by Andrew Crowe, 2019.

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Māori arrival and settlement

This curiosity card uses an image and fertile questions to spark student inquiry:

These topics from Topic Explorer have quality, curated resources, including websites, images, videos, books and more:

Explore these pages from Tuia Mātauranga to highlight people, places and events that have helped shape our nation:

These entries from Many Answers guide students to reliable and trustworthy resources:

Use the following He Tohu video and activities to explore the histories of land and place names in Aotearoa:

Te Kupenga online has this story with an image from the Alexander Turnbull Library and related resources to inspire student learning:

Some popular books related to this topic include:

  • First Footprints: People, Land and Resources in Aotearoa by Peter Adds and Bronwyn Wood, 2006

  • Legends of Ngātoro-i-rangi by Karen Taiaroa-Smithies and Mervyn Taiaroa, 2006

  • People, People, People: A Brief History of New Zealand by Stevan Eldred-Grigg, 2011

  • Pūrakau: Māori Myths Retold by Māori Writers by Witi Ihimaera, 2019

  • Taming the Sun: Four Māori Myths by Gavin Bishop, 2008

  • Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History by Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris, 2014

  • The Castle in Our Backyard by Malcolm Paterson, 2010

  • The Māori: Before the Europeans Came to New Zealand by Kevin Boon, 1998.

Borrow books from our lending service

Other resources and tools

Teaching and learning resources — free online teaching and learning resources, tools and guides.

Tools for primary source analysis — designed for ākonga (students) from years 1 to 13 in Aotearoa NZ schools.