Why was a Treaty needed in New Zealand - ESSAY: Social Studies

Why was a Treaty needed in New Zealand: Essay

During 1830, a total of 100,000 Māori and 200 Europeans were living in New Zealand. The behaviour of the Whalers, the Missionaries’ desire to help protect Māori rights and the Musket Wars were reasons that led to a conclusion that a treaty was needed. The Declaration of Independence was also another contributing factor to the need for a treaty. One reason that a treaty was needed was the lawless behaviour of some of the British Settlers like whalers. This is important because Maori were being treated poorly by the whalers. Meaning that a treaty would help this situation as there was a possibility that it could improve their behaviour. Because of their actions upon their arrival, a treaty would help. After being months in the sea, a vast celebration can be foreseen. Though the way they celebrated was lawless and disorderly. Being intoxicated with alcohol guided them to more predicaments. Such predicaments are; fighting, prostitution, and diseases. All of this fighting and lawlessness led Korarerika to be known as "The Hell Hole of the Pacific." Thus, explaining the requirement of a treaty. Another reason that a treaty was needed was to protect Māori rights. One group that felt strongly about this was the missionaries. The missionaries significantly helped the Māori gain more information and knowledge. Furthermore, converting the Māori into Christianity, and overall, achieve a good relationship with them. As they arrived in New Zealand, they introduced new technologies to the Māori such, as farming equipment and methods. To embody the ultimate goal of hoping that they would convert to their religion by showing them the British way of life. The Missionaries was also worried about the Māori as they were losing vast amounts of people due to the musket wars. Furthermore, they were alarmed by the lawless and violent behaviour of the pakeha as well as concerns of the large land sales that were happening around the country. These were the reasons the missionaries supported the treaty and actively encouraged the Māori to sign it. Hence, why the treaty was needed to protect Māori rights. When the Europeans arrived in Aotearoa, they introduced a new weapon to Maoris; muskets. Muskets were powerful enough to change the population during this century, as most tribes fought with weapons that required you to be near your enemies to prove useful. Northern tribes were the first tribes to obtain muskets, specifically the Ngāpuhi tribe. The Ngāpuhi tribe used the muskets to gain an advantage against the Ngāti Whātua tribe. Resulting in the Ngāti Whātua tribe trading for muskets, ultimately resulting in the rivalry between the two tribes. Other tribes then traded for muskets, as they saw the power it conveys. Approximately 20,000 people died due to the musket wars. What is the Declaration of Independence, what was its purpose? Significantly, the overall purpose of the declaration of independence was for promoting and protect the rights of Māori. 35 Rangatira (Māori chiefs) and 4 British residents signed the Declaration of Independence in 1835. Through He Whakaputanga (Declaration of Independence of New Zealand), the 35 Māori chiefs asserted that Aotearoa was an independent Māori state, this rule resided fully with the Māori and foreigners would not be allowed to make laws. However, the chiefs had to meet annually at Waitangi to make laws, in return for the friendship and protection that Māori was to give British subjects in New Zealand. Concluding in the Treaty of Waitangi which was signed 5 years. Therefore, the importance of Whakaputanga. To conclude, a treaty was needed to protect the culture of Māori and enable them to live in New Zealand as Māori. An example can be the lawless behaviour happening in Kororereka and the use of muskets during the musket wars. Two things we can learn from is the importance of the treaty and how the Māori were taken advantage of. The treaty protected Māoris, their mana and their culture. Before the treaty was formed, the Māoris were taken advantage of. Examples of this were the loss of land and their lack of technology. Overall, expressing the significance of the treaty to Māoris.

Year 10 Writing Portfolio

Throughout the year we had in English, we had a total of 3 assessments and 1 short film. During the making of these assessments, I have learned several techniques and methods we can use for our writing. In term 1, I have learned the sensory language, language features and the narrative arc. Term 2 was something different as we learned film aspects and had an opportunity to create our short film. Unfortunately, we were in lockdown on term 3, however, we were still able to produce work. Within this term, we were learned how to understand the main idea, theme, topic and the author's purpose of a novel. Finally, in term 4, we learned how to write an introduction, body paragraph and conclusion using acronyms. Here is a pdf of my writing throughout the terms. 

Year 10 Writing Portfolio pdf

The Treaty of Union: Social Studies

This week on Social Studies we, looked at different treaties such as; the Treaty of Union, Treaty of Waitangi and the treaty between the United States and Native American Indians. Our task for this week was to research a treaty of our choice and answer questions based on our treaty. I chose to research the Treaty of Union which, is an agreement between England and Scotland. The Treaty of Union relates to our main topic (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) as some similarities can be distinguished between the two treaties. Anyway, here is my presentation about the Treaty of Union. 

The Population Data of NZ from 1836 - 1901: Social Studies

Continuing on the topic of the 'Treaty of Waitangi', this week we are looking at the history of New Zealand's population. Throughout this topic, we also learned the culture of Maori and their beliefs. The graph that we were tasked to create looks at the people the difference between the Maori and Europeans, starting from 1836-1901. Anyway, here is the graph.

What does the graph show us?

The graph shows that as the year progresses, the population of Maori's continue to decline whereas the European's population inclines.

Why do you think the number of Maoris changed?

The Maori's population declined due to the invasion of the Europeans, including their muskets. The introduction and involvement of guns ultimately increased the number of deaths, resulting in the decline of the Maori population. Foreign diseases could also cause the Maori's population. 

Why do you think the number of Europeans changed?

Upon the arrival of the Europeans to Aotearoa, they traded with the Maoris as they were pretty less advanced. They then traded with other countries which earned them more money. Additionally, more Europeans came and colonized Aotearoa. 

Pepeha: My Mihi

Continuing our Treaty of Waitangi topic, today we were tasked to make a 'Mihi' which I have made a few years ago. We also looked at the Maori culture which involved Waka, Iwi and the culture that connects the people of New Zealand. Here are my notes about Iwi and my Mihi. 

Notes:

Iwi defines as bones and refers to someone’s relevant background.

Ngati defines as descended from, and is usually heard before an iwi is mentioned. 

A person would identify with a mountain, an ocean, a lake and the land around their tribal area. 

My Mihi:

Ko Makiling toku maunga

Ko Pacific toku moana

Ko Pasig toku awa

Ko Laguna toku rohe

Ko Vann Manaig ingoa

Nō reira, tēna koutou, tēna koutou, tēna koutou katoa.

Personalized Passion Project: Beast King Kabuki 2

As you might have known, around mid Term 3, we have been working on our personalized passion project. In the first blog post, I talked about the planning of our project, our driving question, and the start of our project. A couple of weeks later, we have finally finished our sculpture "The Beast King". This idea came from a Kabuki play, a form of theatre, a Japanese play. Anyway, we created a slideshow to present the process of how we created our sculpture. Overall, I believe that all members of the group worked well together to finish the sculpture on time. 

Te Tiriti o Waitangi - Tangaroa Poster: Social Studies

For the last term on Social Studies, we are learning about "Te Tiriti o Waitangi", or The Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi has been taught to us several times, however, we don't fully understand its story. The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on the 6th of February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand. 

For our task, we were given different Maori God's to find what deity they had and their equivalent in Roman, Greek and Hindi. Finally, making a poster for one of the Gods and a bit of story about them. I chose to make a poster about Tangaroa, who is the God of the ocean. Here is the poster that I have made.