Map my waahi - discovering our shared heritage→

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In Aotearoa New Zealand, our ancestors all came from another place. Our society is a rich blend of origins, cultures, languages, traditions, religions and foods from all over the world. Early Māori sailed thousands of miles to reach Aotearoa New Zealand. Their routes were preserved in memory or recorded in song. Upon arrival they weaved place names and overland route descriptions into oral histories. These have been passed from generation to generation. Iwi mapping was therefore an oral tradition. The pepeha, for example, is an important form of introduction. It links individuals to their tribal roots and significant landmarks. The forerunner to the Global Positioning System (GPS)!

Join us as we explore the diverse heritage of a classroom, their stories and how they came to Aotearoa New Zealand. Meet with their parents and understand some of the challenges they faced in making this country their home. Your guides will be other students who have been using digital maps to create a record of their origins and the places that support their identity.

A New Reading of Tupaia's Chart, by Anne di Piazza & Erik Pearthree→

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One of the most intriguing artefacts brought back to Europe from Cook’s voyages in the Pacific is a map, Tupaia’s Chart, catalogued in the British Museum as a “Chart of the Society Islands with Otaheite in the center July-Aug 1769”. After decades of close, focused work on Tupaia’s Chart, it still cannot be read as a Mercator projection.

Many islands, even archipelagos seem to be misplaced. Could it be that Tupaia simply failed to solve the problem of converting his view of the Ocean world onto a twodimensional map, with a scale and azimuths?

In this paper, we propose a different reading of his Chart, a reading that is in accordance with how traditional Pacific navigators conceived of their sea environment, i.e., through memorised lists of “relevant pairs of islands plus so-called ‘star courses’ between these islands”. We conclude that Tupaia’s Chart, while having the appearance of a map, is in fact a mosaic of sailing directions or plotting diagrams drawn on paper, similar to those made by master navigators tracing lines in the sand or arranging pebbles on a mat to instruct their pupils.

Tupapa→

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Our ancestors journeyed from Polynesia to Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) more than 700 years ago. Tupapa: Our Stand. Our Story is a project to tell our rich, interwoven stories that have been passed down about the first people to navigate to and inhabit this place.

Te Taniwha o Whangapārāoa, Ko te wāhanga Māori nā Roka Paora. Ko te wāhanga Pākehā me ngā whakaahua nā Cathie Penetito Te Wharekura 21→

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Poem about a young boy who sees Cook's ship off the coast of Whangapārāoa (Bay of Plenty) and in running to tell his people, wakes a taniwha. Bilingual.

Matariki and Navigation - Kupe, Cook and Today →

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The 2019 sestercentennial commemoration of Captain Cook's first visit, called Tuia 250 First Encounters, is a time to reflect on the skills and knowledge of the people who discovered and founded Aotearoa New Zealand.
Matariki was originally a solar celebration that marked the solstice and let people commemorate dead and think about new year. Matariki means the eye of the Ariki, as the small star cluster rises just before dawn in early June from the same point that the Sun rises on the north-eastern horizon. This heralds the Māori New Year: a perfect time for our journey of discovery to explore the significance of Matariki; to appreciate the importance of stars in early navigation; to paddle a traditional waka; to explore Cook's landing sites; to use 18th century navigation and charting techniques, and to see how they compare with modern marine navigation and charting.

Tuia Mātauranga - Encounters 250 topic in Science Learning Hub→

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The topic page about Tuia Encounters 250 and Tuia Mātauranga in the Science Learning Hub website. Includes some resources for Tui Kōreroreo: Ngā Pātai.

Roadside Stories by Ministry for Culture and Heritage→

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Roadside Stories is a series of audio guides that follow major road trips in New Zealand. The stories cover the places you’ll pass along the way – their people, their history, their cultural and natural significance.

The star compass – kāpehu whetū in The Science Learning Hub→

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Like the Sun, stars rise in the eastern horizon and set in the western horizon. Navigators who know the direction and position in which the stars rise and set can use the horizon as a compass. Knowledge of the night sky is the most important of the mental constructs of knowledge needed for wayfinding. The star compass was devised to help navigators memorise this knowledge.

Kupe in the Hokianga - Roadside Stories by Ministry for Culture and Heritage→

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Hokianga Harbour was the departure point of legendary Māori navigator Kupe when he returned to his homeland of Hawaiki. Kupe is said to have left behind two taniwha (water spirits), which guided the safe landing of later Polynesian arrivals.

The Canoe Is The People→

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The stars can never go wrong.
Thousands of years ago, when most sailors were still hugging the coast, the island peoples of the Pacific held the knowledge and skills to explore the great ocean paths extending far beyond their homes. Modern instruments didn't exist - no compasses, no radio, no radar (a system that uses electromagnetic waves to locate surrounding objects), no GPS (Global Positioning System, a handheld computer that tells your position by communicating with satellites). The Pacific peoples found their way across the ocean, guided by the wind, waves, stars, and sea life. Voyage into this website to find out more…
Includes teacher and student guides.

Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean→

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First hand account of Cook's last voyage, 1776 - 1780, from on board the Discovery (Cook was on board the Resolution). Contains details of the visit to Ship Cove / Meretoto on that voyage, including the flora and fauna as encountered by the crew at the time.

Ventnor Project→

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A project documenting the history and memorialisation of the SS Ventnor, which sank in 1902 with the loss of 13 people and the remains of around 500 Chinese men whose bodies were being returned from New Zealand to China for burial. In 2007 members of the early settler Chinese community were told the history of the Ventnor sinking from the Hokianga point of view. They were told that for some time after the sinking in 1902, remains had washed ashore and locals had carefully gathered them up. Some sets of remains were collected by Te Roroa and Te Rarawa, who buried them in their own ancestral burial grounds. A meeting with iwi representatives confirmed this was the case, and that knowledge of the remains and responsibility for care had been passed down from generation to generation to this present day.

Tupaia's Endeavour, on Māori television→

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A TV series telling the story of Tupaia. Artist Michel Tuffery, historian Paul Tapsell, and actor Kirk Torrance meet with Gisborne and Uawa-Tolaga Bay identities, anthropologist Dame Anne Salmond, waka hourua (twin-hulled voyaging canoe) crew, Tupaia’s descendants and others as they explore the Tahitian’s role during those early encounters in New Zealand. 

Approaches to inquiry learning, in National Library Services to Schools→

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There are many inquiry learning strategies and approaches. In particular, guided inquiry provides a framework for collaboration between teachers and library staff to support students through their inquiry-based learning.