Ka Mau te Wehi! Unit 14 Tō tātou maunga – Our mountain

Unit 14 of 20. Ka Mau te Wehi! is based on levels 1 and 2 of Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te Ako i Te Reo Māori – Kura Auraki Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori in English-medium Schools: Years 1–13.

Koro Manu, Haami, Waka and Nui sitting outside, speaking.

About this resource

This unit focuses on:

Suggested curriculum link: Prepare and deliver a mihi, research local iwi
Learning intentions: New words: Mihi, hongi, maunga, awa, moana, tēnā koutou katoa, waka, tūpuna rongonui, tumuaki

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Ka Mau te Wehi! Unit 14: Tō tātou maunga – Our mountain

Learning intentions

In this unit, ākonga will:

prepare a mihi
deliver the mihi to an audience as a way of introducing themselves
research local iwi.

Success criteria

Before commencing the unit, the kāiako will discuss the learning intentions with ākonga and together agree on appropriate success criteria.

Resources

See Materials that come with this resource to download

Unit 14 Tō tātou maunga Our mountain (.pdf)
Unit 14 transcripts (.pdf)
Unit 14 worksheet A (.pdf)

Activity 1

Learning intention

Ākonga will learn about the hongi and will be introduced to the extended whānau.

Watch: He kōrero whakamārama: The hongi

The hongi, the traditional Māori greeting, is explained.

Watch: Scene 1: Meeting the family

The family meets their extended whānau at the marae. Ask ākonga to listen for the words in te reo Māori for nephew, grandfather, grandchildren, and husband.

In groups of seven or eight, have ākonga prepare a roleplay showing a family reunion. They will need to decide who will be the visitors and who will be the hosts. They also need to think about their role in the whānau.

Ākonga can use the transcripts from Unit 14 Scene 1 as a guide. Encourage them to use the greetings and phrases they have learnt so far. Have them perform the roleplay for the rest of the class.

Activity 2

Learning intention

Ākonga will learn about the mihi and they will prepare a mihi for class.

Watch: He kōrero whakamārama: The mihimihi

The mihimihi (introduction) is explained.

Watch: Unit 14 Scene 2: Talking to Grandad

The boys’ grandfather talks to them about their whakapapa.

Watch: Unit 14 Scene 3: Waka learns about his whakapapa

Grandfather continues to talk to the boys about their whakapapa.

Ask ākonga to develop their own mihi following the examples in these two scenes. They should first think of the place they strongly identify with. This could be the place their parents or grandparents came from or the place where they were born; for example, they might be from Rotorua or Brisbane.

Ask them to find out the name of the maunga (mountain), the awa (river), or moana (sea or lake) near their special place and the iwi (tribal group or clan) associated with their special place.

Tēnā koutou e hoa mā.	Greetings to you (3 or more people) my friends.
Ko ... te maunga.	The mountain is (name of the mountain).
Ko ... te awa/moana.	The river/sea/lake is (name of the river/sea/lake).
Ko Ngāti ... te iwi.	The tribal group is (name of the tribal group).
Ko ... taku ingoa.	My name is (your name).
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.	Greetings, greetings, greetings (to all of you).

Ask ākonga to practise saying their mihi to themselves a few times, then take turns with another student to say their mihi to each other. Once ākonga feel confident, they could introduce themselves to the whole class using their mihi. Please ensure that they greet the rest of the group.

Encourage ākonga to give each other positive feedback by saying kia ora  (thank you) after each person finishes. Explain to ākonga that it is not appropriate to clap after someone has presented a mihi. The purpose of a mihi is to greet people and introduce yourself. It is not a performance.

Activity 3

Learning intention

Ākonga will learn other ways of delivering a mihi.

Revise greetings, pronunciation, and ways of introducing people, and discuss the importance of acknowledging where you are from when you meet someone.

Watch: He kōrero whakamārama: Customs do vary

For further information, you may like to refer to this video, which explains differences in customs.

Ākonga could use the mihi format in Unit 14 worksheet A or extend the one they wrote in Activity 1 to incorporate parents’ names, and brothers’ and sisters’ names – or make up their own.

Have them say the mihi with a partner practising the correct intonation and pronunciation. Ask each ākonga to deliver their mihi to an audience. The audience could think about ways of assessing the mihi delivery. For example:

Did the ākonga memorise their mihi?
Did they say it clearly and confidently?
Was their pronunciation correct?
Did they use:
- emotion
- expression
- eye contact
- hand and body gestures?

Activity 4

Learning intention

Ākonga can collect information and process it.

Have ākonga brainstorm all they know about the local iwi. Visit local libraries. For local iwi information, search He Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa, your guide to finding and using government services.

Ākonga should decide what aspect of local iwi history they want to write about, such as the names of their waka – canoe, maunga – mountain, awa – river, tūpuna rongonui – famous ancestors, significant marriages and battles of the iwi, the history of the marae, the role of the marae in today’s society, or any other relevant topic.

Tell them to organise their ideas and information, writing as many of these ideas as possible in te reo Māori. Encourage them to use libraries, museums, the local information centre, iwi social services, local marae committees and members of the local iwi to help them gather information about the history of the iwi.

Ask them to find out what pan-tribal means and if it applies to the local marae.

Have ākonga present their findings (for example, in a book or booklet, on PowerPoint, as a poster or a diorama), using visual images to emphasise important points. The finished projects should be presented to the class and displayed in the classroom.