New Zealand Proposed a New Curriculum Teaching Maori and Colonial History

The proposed curriculum would cover the arrival of the Maori to New Zealand, early colonial history, immigration and colonization of New Zealand, and the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by the British and Maori chiefs in 1840 and has shaped the relationship between the Maori and non-indigenous people in New Zealand ever since.

The proposal comes just in time for Waitangi Day on Saturday, February 6.

The Maori compose around 15 percent of New Zealand’s population. During the country’s colonization by Britain, the Maori had their land stolen and suffered atrocities often not mentioned in history classes.