Station 2: Ihumātao Protectors

🌱 Movement Background

Key Facts:

Location: Ihumātao, South Auckland - ancient pā site

Timeline: 2014-2020+ (ongoing protection)

Issue: Housing development on culturally significant whenua

Led by: Young Māori, particularly wahine rangatahi

Community: Kiingitanga, local iwi, urban Māori, supporters

Cultural Foundation:

• Whakapapa: Connection to ancestors buried in this whenua

• Kaitiakitanga: Responsibility to protect land for future generations

• Rangatiratanga: Assert Māori authority over ancestral lands

• Te Tiriti: Government's obligation to protect Māori interests

• Collective decision-making through hui

Organising Strategies:

• Physical occupation of the land (2016-2020)

• Cultural education and storytelling

• Legal challenges through courts

• Coalition building across communities

• Social media to build national solidarity

• Direct engagement with politicians

🎯 Analysis Questions

Whakapapa & Organising:

How did young Māori organise to protect whenua using traditional values?
What role did whakapapa (genealogical connection) play in their organising?
How did they honour ancestors while fighting for the future?

Building Solidarity:

How did they build solidarity across different Māori communities?
What role did non-Māori supporters play in the movement?
How did they connect land protection to broader justice issues?

Land & Democracy:

What does land protection have to do with democracy?
How does protecting whenua challenge colonial systems?
What alternatives to government processes did they create?

Youth Leadership:

How did young Māori take leadership in this movement?
What power did they have even without formal political positions?
How did they balance respect for elders with youth leadership?

📚 Teacher Resource Notes

Purpose: Use this station card to examine the Ihumatao land protection movement as a contemporary example of Māori civic action and land rights.

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to build understanding of systems, governance, and civic action in Aotearoa New Zealand, connecting to Te Ao Māori principles.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

✅ Students can explain the historical context of the Ihumatao land dispute.
✅ Students can connect the protest to Treaty principles and mana motuhake.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Differentiation: Provide sentence starters or word banks for students who need scaffold support. Extend capable learners by asking them to find a real-world NZ example connected to this resource. Support ELL students with vocabulary pre-teaching. Adapt for neurodiverse learners by offering choice in how they record their thinking.

Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson or as an introductory hook. No specialist prior knowledge required.

Curriculum alignment

Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Social Sciences · Phase 3 (Years 7–8) · Civics and Society (Knowledge): “Pressure groups influence decision-makers outside of elections.”
NZC (2007) · Social Studies · Level 4: “Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.”