Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Timeline (Grade 6)
Free printable Aotearoa New Zealand histories timeline worksheet for Grade 6. Students put nine key events, from the arrival of Māori around 1250-1300 to the first Matariki public holiday, in chronological order.
Grade 6 · History worksheet
Name
Date
History
Order the Events: Aotearoa New Zealand's Histories
Number these events from earliest (1) to most recent. Write the year (or the date range given) next to each event.
- 1.Event 1: Abel Tasman's Dutch expedition sights New Zealand; a violent misunderstanding in Golden Bay leaves four of his sailors dead, and he leaves without landing.
- 2.Event 2: Government forces invade the Waikato during the New Zealand Wars.
- 3.Event 3: ANZAC forces land at Gallipoli on 25 April.
- 4.Event 4: James Cook's Endeavour arrives and charts the coastline; Tupaia of Ra'iatea is able to speak with Māori.
- 5.Event 5: The ancestors of Māori arrive from East Polynesia in ocean-going waka and establish the first permanent settlements.
- 6.Event 6: The Māori Language Act makes te reo Māori an official language.
- 7.Event 7: Matariki becomes a public holiday for the first time.
- 8.Event 8: New Zealand women win the right to vote in parliamentary elections, a world first for a self-governing country.
- 9.Event 9: Te Tiriti o Waitangi is first signed at Waitangi on 6 February.
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Accuracy and sources
These references support the historical wording and answer key on this worksheet.
- Te Ara: Māori arrival and settlement — dates the first permanent settlements to about 1250-1300 on radiocarbon, pollen, DNA and genealogical evidence, with voyagers arriving from East Polynesia
- Te Ara: European discovery of New Zealand: Abel Tasman — dates Tasman's 1642 visit, the killing of four of his crew in Golden Bay, and his departure without landing
- NZ History: The Treaty in brief — supports the 6 February 1840 signing at Waitangi, the roughly 40 signatures that day and about 540 across 1840, nearly all on the Māori text
- Te Ara: New Zealand Wars — frames the wars of 1845-1872 as conflict over sovereignty and land between government forces and some iwi
- NZ History: New Zealand women and the vote: brief history — supports the Electoral Act becoming law on 19 September 1893, the world-first status, Kate Sheppard's leadership and the petition of nearly 32,000 signatures
- NZ History: The Gallipoli campaign — documents the 25 April 1915 landings, the eight-month campaign and the 2,779 New Zealand dead remembered on Anzac Day