The development of state/federal mandated curricula for schooling is a highly politicised process, and even more so for marginalised Indigenous groups who are simultaneously attempting to revitalise their traditional language and knowledge. An example of this is the ongoing struggles between the New Zealand State and Maori to develop curricula for Maori-medium schooling over the past 25 years. While state funding was provided to support the inaugural Maori-medium curriculum development in the 1990s, it had to mirror the hegemonic English version, a continuation of the past 100 years of assimilationist practice. In the subsequent revision of the Maori-medium curriculum 2007-2008, the State was more accepting of difference and the capacity to develop Maori-medium curriculum had significantly expanded. In 2013, the state agreed to fund the development and implementation of localised school curriculum for one of the more highly politised Maori-medium sectors -- kura kaupapa Maori. We draw on Fraser's (2005. Reframing justice in a globalizing world. New Left Review, 36(Nov-Dec), 69-88) social justice tripartite of distribution, recognition and representation to critique and examine the tensions, and in many cases, unresolved issues in curriculum developments for Maori-medium schooling.