Sixth Sense by Apirana Taylor is a powerful, lyrical poem that responds to the first encounters between Māori and Europeans at Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) in 1769. Written from the perspective of Te Kurī a Pawa, a Ngāti Porou explorer, the poem captures a moment of profound uncertainty, intuition, and foreboding as unfamiliar ships approach the shore.

The poem is spare and rhythmic, relying on repetition, short lines, and sound to convey unease. The opening growl—“grrrr”—signals an instinctive warning, positioning the speaker as both human and animal, guided by senses beyond sight. References to unheard voices, a “strange tongue,” and “death and war / in the winds of time” suggest an awareness of future consequences, even before contact occurs. The repeated question “what is this” reinforces confusion and tension, while the phrase te ao hurihuri (“the world turns”) signals a moment of irreversible change.

By anchoring the poem in a single voice at the shoreline, Taylor foregrounds Māori experience at the moment of first contact. The speaker’s uncertainty—“i stand on the shore / i am unsure”—contrasts sharply with the historical narratives that often privilege European exploration. Instead, the poem centres Indigenous perception, intuition, and vulnerability at the threshold of colonisation.

The poem sits alongside Steve Gibbs’s painting, which visually reinforces the themes of sensing, symbolism, and impending change. The kurī (dog) becomes a symbolic guardian and witness, while swirling patterns and ocean imagery reflect movement, disruption, and transformation. Together, poem and artwork invite students to consider how art and poetry can respond to history through emotion, perspective, and symbolism rather than factual recount alone.

The text supports students to understand Aotearoa New Zealand histories through Indigenous voice, metaphor, and intuition, and to explore how first encounters are experienced differently depending on perspective.

The text is ideal for integrated learning across literacy, social sciences, and the arts, supporting inquiry into colonisation, first encounters, and Māori perspectives.

A wide range of response activities can support developing and embedding key literacy skills, including inference, symbolism analysis, cloze activities, visual–text connections, and reflective writing.

Curriculum Phase: Phase 2
Year Level: Year 4

English: reading for meaning and inference, analysing poetic voice and symbolism, exploring repetition and structure, understanding perspective and author purpose

Social Sciences – Aotearoa New Zealand Histories: first encounters, colonisation, Māori perspectives, continuity and change, identity and belonging

The Arts – Visual Art: interpreting symbolism, responding to artwork through poetry

Text type: Poetry, free verse, historical and reflective verse

Key words include: Aotearoa New Zealand histories, Apirana Taylor, art response, colonisation, dog, first encounters, Gisborne, kurī, Māori perspectives, Ngāti Porou, poetry, symbolism, Te Kurī a Pawa, te ao hurihuri, Turanganui-a-Kiwa