A pragmatic response to the government announcement that New Zealand histories will be taught in all schools by 2022 are the questions of what should be taught, and how? I argue that iwi and hapu must be at the forefront of conversations. This article looks critically at how Janene, a Pakeha museum educator, taught Year 13 history students about difficult histories in the Waipa district. In particular, this article examines how Janene strategically accounted for the students' emotional readiness to listen to iwi and hapu perspectives of the New Zealand Wars at sites of historical colonial violence.