Resources for self-directed learning

To support agencies to access the types of resources that can build Māori Crown relations capability, we have developed this page to share some opportunities for self-directed learning for core competency areas. Lots of resources are available, such as links to websites, books, videos, documents and so on.

More resources will be added to these kete.

Te reo Māori

Resources to learn, apply and practice te reo Māori.

This is language learning and every individual has to identify the best ways that help them to learn.

Aotearoa New Zealand history and Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi

To move from ‘unfamiliar’ to ‘comfortable’ within the Aotearoa New Zealand history and the Treaty of Waitangi competency area, the Māori Crown relations capability framework [PDF, 326 KB] presents several possibilities:

• Learn about Aotearoa New Zealand history from Māori and tauiwi perspectives, the Treaty of Waitangi and the history of the Māori Crown relationship
• Research a topic in Aotearoa New Zealand history and present its impact
• Read key sources on Aotearoa New Zealand history
• Reflect on the impacts of colonisation at individual and group levels.

Each source listed below relates to one or several of these areas. They have been selected because they are:

• widely available and/or free to access
• present reliable content in a manner that is accessible to a general audience
  and
• together comprise a variety of perspectives about te Tiriti/Treaty from diverse media.

Encyclopaedias and reference databases

Te Ara (external link)

The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand features content about New Zealand’s people, environment, history, culture and society

New Zealand History (external link)

Developed by Manatū Taonga – Ministry of Culture and Heritage, this resource has articles about historic topics, events, people and places in Aotearoa New Zealand

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (external link)

Contains life stories of over 3,000 people who shaped Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture and history

General histories

The Penguin History of New Zealand, Michael King (2003, 2012)

General overview of Aotearoa New Zealand history from one of New Zealand’s most famous historians

The Oxford History of New Zealand, 2nd edition, Rice, Geoffrey ed. (1993)

Drawing on the work of archaeologists, social scientists, economists and historians, this book provides a comprehensive account of Aotearoa New Zealand’s past from the first Polynesian settlement through the 1990s

Ka Whaiwhai Tonu Mātou, Ranginui Walker (1990, 2004)

This landmark book brought Māori history, written by a Māori author, to a wide audience

Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi

The Illustrated History of the Treaty of Waitangi, Claudia Orange (1990, 2021)

Illustrations of those involved sit alongside an informative text explaining the history of te Tiriti/Treaty

He Tohu(external link)

He Tohu is a permanent exhibition of three iconic constitutional documents, including te Tiriti/Treaty, that shape Aotearoa New Zealand

Māori TV: Lost in Translation(external link)

Comedian Mike King learns stories behind Te Tiriti o Waitangi, traces the 1840 path of the nine sheets as it accrued its 540 signatures, meets Māori and Pākehā descendants of those involved, and connects with his Māori heritage

TVNZ: What Really Happened – Waitangi(external link)

Following an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, it uses humour and asides to camera to evoke motives behind the Treaty