Are the Maori still alive?

Today we began making a giant Haast eagle to hang up in the room at ChIL time, while the children were cutting and sticking a discussion began.
Eva: Are the Maori still alive?
Claire: No, because when we weren't alive, they were alive.
Connor: Yes, cause I think they live in a different land.
R: They're not alive, I went to New Zealand and didn't see any.
Connor: Thats because Maori live in deserts.
Amelie: Yes they are alive because people can talk Maori.
Lily: The Maori are alive but there aren't many left but I don't know why.
Vida: Theres not many left because they are very old.
Deepak: I saw a Maori in a museum.
R: Was it alive?
Deepak: It was a statue.
Amelie: When I went to the museum, I saw coloured people of Maori, trying to kill a moa. They were in a forest.
Dakota: They are still alive because some Maori people are on the news.

This was an interesting discussion and it is interesting to note that a couple of children in this discussion have Maori ancestry but have not made this connection.

In a discussion a few day earlier the words ancestors came up and we discussed how our ancestors are our family from a long time ago. I told them that some children in our class had Maori ancestors but they obviously did not make the connection that, that means they are Maori. When we were talking about this Thomas asked the question, What am I?, which may lead us onto some interesting learning about ourselves.