Year: 2023

Maori Battalion 

(Te Hokowhitu-a-tu)

 

Response 

Level One – Skim and Scan

1. What did New Zealanders start to call themselves during the First World War?

The New Zealanders started to call themselves Kiwis.

 

1. How did the government encourage Māori to join the war?

The government said it would include a special group of soldiers called the maori ontingent .

 

1. What was the war cry used to encourage Māori to fight?

O people prepare yourselves for battle spring up spring up . (Maori) E te iwi  whìtiki whiti whiti e.

 

Level Two: Vocabulary

Word	Definition	Your own sentence
Rural	A place that looks like the countryside more than the town.	I live in a rural place.
Contingent	A group of people that share a common feature.
Conscripted	Someone that has to join the army by law.	The government conscripted people in the army.

 

Level Three: Inference (Responses require AT LEAST one full sentence)

1. Why did some Māori feel unwilling to fight in the war?

Because a lot of their lands had been taken in 1860 and caused poverty.

What did the British high command feel uncomfortable about, and why did they initially keep the Māori soldiers busy with digging trenches?

The British high was uncomfortable because the Maori people were fighting with the europeans. So the Maori people were busy digging trenches and supply.

What does the chaplain’s prayer tell us about who the Māori soldiers were responsible for?

The Mana, the honour and the good name of the Maori people.

How did the First World War change the relationship between Māori and Pākehā?

Some Maori and Pakeha were friends but not much had changed and most Pakeha and Maori people viewed themselves as different.

   How did World War One change, and shape New Zealand’s national identity?

Because they started to be proud of what their nation had done in the war. So they started to call themselves kiwis for their country’s new identity.