If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page, after the Vocabulary. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.
If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the text.
1. Listening for main ideas
First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?
2. Listening for numbers
Now listen again and answer the following questions:
- When did the British arrive in New Zealand?
- When did a group of Māori decide to march to protest about land loss?
- How old was Whina Cooper, the group’s leader?
- How many people were in the group when they started the march?
- When did the group start the march?
- How many kilometres did they walk?
- When did they arrive in Wellington?
- How many people were in the group when they arrived in Wellington?
- How many signatures did the petition have?
- Fill in the gaps: Whina Cooper said “In _______ Māori owned _______ million acres in New Zealand. In _______, they owned _______ million acres, but by _______ have just _______ million acres left.”
- When was the hīkoi against the Treaty Principles Bill?
- How old was Dame Whina Cooper when she died?
Text
13th October was the 50th anniversary of the Māori Land March, which marked a turning point in the fight for Māori land rights.
After the British arrived in New Zealand in the 19th century, they took land from Māori through sales, legislation, and confiscation. Māori protested against this in different ways but continued to lose land. In 1975, a group of Māori decided to march from the far north of the North Island to Parliament in Wellington to protest about land loss. The group was led by Whina Cooper, who was 79 years old at the time and who had been the first leader of the Māori Women’s Welfare League.
The group of 50 people left Te Hāpua, near the top of the North Island, on 14th September 1975. They chose this date because it was the third anniversary of the Māori Language Petition being presented to Parliament. They walked 1,100 kilometres and were joined on the way by others, so when they arrived in Wellington on 13th October there were 5,000 people. They presented a petition to the Prime Minister, Bill Rowling, with 60,000 signatures demanding that “not one more acre of Māori land” be compulsorily taken by the Crown. Whina Cooper said “In 1862 Māori owned 63 million acres in New Zealand. In 1960, they owned 4 million acres, but by 1975 have just 2.5 million acres left.”
This march was the first significant protest march about the issue of Māori land. It established a method of protest that has been used several times since then, such as the hīkoi against the Treaty Principles Bill in November 2024. It also raised awareness of Māori concerns among the general public.
Whina Cooper received many awards and honours for her work. She became a Dame in 1981 for her services to Māori people, so was called Dame Whina Cooper. She died in 1994, aged 98. A film about her life, called Whina, was released in 2022.
Vocabulary
anniversary – a date on which something special or important happened
a turning point – the time when an important change takes place
confiscation – officially taking property away from someone
protest – to come together in public to express disagreement or opposition to something. Also a noun, a protest
petition – a written request signed by a lot of people, asking the government to do or change something
compulsorily – if something is done compulsorily, it is done because of a law or rule
acre – a unit for measuring area, equal to 4,047 square metres
hīkoi – walk, march
award – prize for something that someone has done
honour – in this context, a special title or medal
Answers – you don’t have to write a complete sentence as long as you have the key idea in your answer.
a. When did the British arrive in New Zealand?
In the 19th century
b. When did a group of Māori decide to march to protest about land loss?
In 1975
c. How old was Whina Cooper, the group’s leader?
79
d. How many people were in the group when they started the march?
50
e. When did the group start the march?
14th September 1975
f. How many kilometres did they walk?
1,100
g. When did they arrive in Wellington?
13th October
h. How many people were in the group when they arrived in Wellington?
5,000
i. How many signatures did the petition have?
60,000
j. Fill in the gaps: Whina Cooper said “In 1862 Māori owned 63 million acres in New Zealand. In 1960, they owned 4 million acres, but by 1975 have just 2.5 million acres left.”
k. When was the hīkoi against the Treaty Principles Bill?
November 2024
l. How old was Dame Whina Cooper when she died?
98