NCEA L1 History key terms

A document, object, photograph, letter, or recording created during the period being studied, giving direct evidence of events rather than later commentary on them.

An account written after the events it describes, such as a textbook or later history, which interprets and summarises evidence produced by others.

The known history of who made a source, when, where, and how it has been kept since, used to judge whether it can be trusted.

How far a source can be trusted to give accurate information, judged from its origin, purpose, and the knowledge of its creator.

The value of a source for answering a particular inquiry question, which depends on what it reveals and what it leaves out.

A slant or one-sided emphasis in a source caused by the creator's purpose, beliefs, or position, which can distort what is presented as fact.

A weakness or gap in a source that restricts what it can tell a historian, such as silence on a group's experience or a narrow viewpoint.

Checking one source against others to see whether they agree, which strengthens confidence in a claim or reveals conflict needing explanation.

Material deliberately produced to persuade an audience toward a particular view, often by selecting facts and appealing to emotion rather than balanced evidence.

The absence of voices or evidence from particular groups in surviving sources, which historians must notice and try to explain.

A conclusion drawn from evidence rather than stated directly, such as working out people's attitudes from how a document is worded.

Information from sources that is selected and used to support a historical claim or argument, rather than simply described.

The importance of an event, person, or place, judged by how deeply and widely it affected people and how long its consequences lasted.

The conditions surrounding an event, including politics, economy, society, and beliefs at the time, which shape what happened and how people acted.

The reasons why something happened, distinguishing short-term triggers from underlying conditions and separating causes from mere background.

An outcome or effect of an event, which may be immediate or long-term, intended or unintended, and felt by different groups unequally.

The paired idea that some things alter over a period while others stay the same, and that the pace and depth of change vary between groups.

A moment after which events move in a noticeably different direction, judged by how far it reshaped later conditions.

A historian's explanation of the past built from selected evidence, which can differ from other explanations of the same events.

The study of how history has been written, including how interpretations of a topic have changed over time and why.

The ways a society publicly remembers the past, such as monuments, anniversaries, and place names, which reveal what a community values.

The shared version of the past held by a community, passed on through stories, schooling, and public rituals, which may differ from scholarly accounts.

The 1840 agreement signed between representatives of the British Crown and Māori rangatira, with an English and a Māori text whose meanings differ notably.

The Māori-language text of the 1840 agreement, in which rangatira retained rangatiratanga over their lands while the Crown gained kāwanatanga, a governorship role.

Māori chiefly authority and self-determination over land, people, and resources, a concept central to debates about the Treaty and its meaning.

Governorship or government, the role the Crown was granted in the Māori text of the Treaty, later contested over how far it should extend.

The phrase meaning full chiefly authority or self-determination, used in the Māori text and in later Māori political movements seeking autonomy.

The customary authority a hapū or iwi holds over particular land through long occupation and descent, recognised in Māori law and in Treaty claims.

A Māori kinship group made up of related whānau, the main political and land-holding unit in many traditional and nineteenth-century contexts.

A larger Māori grouping of related hapū sharing descent, identity, and often a recognised territory and collective organisation.

An extended Māori family group linked by descent, marriage, or adoption, forming the basic social unit of Māori society.

A body set up in 1975 to investigate Māori claims that Crown actions breached the Treaty, hearing evidence and recommending remedies to the Crown.

The legal entity representing the New Zealand state and its executive government, treated as the Treaty partner and the target of claims.

The negotiation between the Crown and claimant groups to resolve historical Treaty grievances, usually ending in an agreed redress package and apology.

The organised campaigns from the 1960s onward, including land marches and occupation of disputed sites, pressing for Treaty rights and Māori self-determination.

The viewpoint of a person or group shaped by their position, experiences, and interests, which affects what they notice and how they judge events.

The process by which a group is pushed to the edge of decision-making and public life, limiting its voice in records and debates.

The effort to understand how people in the past made sense of their world using their own beliefs and values, without approving or excusing their actions.

Judging past people by today's values without accounting for their own context, which distorts understanding of why they acted as they did.