This week we have spent quite a lot of time with indigenous people. For those of you that don't know the indigenous people of any country are those that were there first. In the case of New Zealand, this is the Maori people who first arrived here over a thousand years ago. Every country in the world will have indigenous people although, in many cases, they may have disappeared. In olden days very few people travelled around their own countries let alone the world. It was left to explorers, traders and, maybe, some very wealthy people to venture into different lands but there was no such thing as tourism. This of course meant that ordinary people didn't really know too much about other countries and in turn remote countries, and New Zealand was one of the best examples of this, were able to keep their own culture, their way of life, because no-one visited them.

What I thought we would do this week is make up a little story about a country and how the indigenous people can be affected in so many ways by outsiders arriving to live there. This is not the story of any one specific country but many of the things we will mention have happened in various parts of the world. So here we are, some hundred of years ago, with Mr and Mrs Indigi, as we will call them, and their family, living in their isolated country, with others in their tribe and living as they have done for hundreds of years. The way they have developed will not have been affected by any outside influences and the lack of contact with others will mean new ideas, developed elsewhere, will not be known to them. One day a very large ship, far larger than anything they have seen, arrives off their shore. The people on this ship are quite different, have different clothes, speak a different language and have strange customs. Nevertheless you greet them in your own way and they reply. This is Mr Explorer on his way around the world either looking for new lands or, and this would be very bad news for Mr and Mrs Indigi, looking for precious metals like gold. Let's say in this case there is no gold but Mr Explorer manages to trade some goods in return for his pieces of cloth or beads or something similar.

The explorers stay a while and then they set off home. When they get home they tell the story of what they have found. Mr Merchant, a trader, who thinks he can make some money out of the things found on this land, overhears this. At the same time Mr Believer decides that he should go and convert these people to his religion. And then Mr and Mrs Settler, who may be unhappy about things in their land, decided to set off and try and make a fresh life in this new land. Suddenly there is, by comparison, a large number of people arriving in this new land. Things begin to change quite rapidly for Mr and Mrs Indigi. The problems begin because Mr Trader starts to take away all the products on the island and leaves behind pretty worthless gifts. Then, apart from Mr Trader who probably just wants to pop in, buy or trade and then leave, the others begin to look for someone to live. They need land.

The country in which they are looking for land is unlike their own. If you look at the pictures this week, the last four show land around the Whanganui River in the south of the North Island. It hasn't changed that much from 200 years ago and you can see how wild it is and how covered in forest the land is. It is in places like this that some of the settlers will try to make a home. But, unlike the indigenous people, they will not be used to such conditions. It will be a hard and isolated life. Some may stick to it. Others go back to easier conditions on flatter land. But you have to remember that this land belongs to Mr and Mrs Indigi and their families. They have lived here and now they are having to live alongside these newcomers who appear to have more material possessions and are able to use things they have never seen. They have guns, they have metal tools, they bring animals Mr and Mrs Indigi have never seen. At first this will impress the native people. They may even find a use for the tools or the guns.

But after a time things begin to go wrong. Mr and Mrs Indigi and their friends and neighbours realise they are losing out. Their land is disappearing and these new owners won't share it. They put up fences and say it is theirs. They take over the land in several ways, most of which are, shall we say, a little dubious. They can just steal it, overpower the natives and build their settlements there. They can offer goods for land but these native people may have no idea about the value of their land or the goods they are being given. If Mr Believer has been successful in converting some of the people he may play upon this and tell the natives he needs some land to build a church or whatever. Some companies may become involved, buy a large amount of land and then sell it to people like Mr and Mrs Settler. Mr and Mrs Settler decide to open a store and offer goods to Mr and Mrs Indigi, who are still living on their land next door. But the natives don't have money so Mr and Mrs Settler say don't worry you can pay when you do. Then when Mr and Mrs Indigi have big debts, Mr and Mrs Settler offer to write off the debts in return for some more land.

At this point Mr and Mrs Indigi have a choice. They can fight and probably get beaten and be eliminated, they can flee inland, only useful in a big country where there is somewhere to flee or they can stay and try and live with their new neighbours. But even if they take the last way there are still problems. These new settlers are bringing diseases that were killing off the natives, so their numbers become less. Some of the natives married the settlers and their children were part indigenous, part European. They then tended to live in a more European than indigenous way. The new settlers then set up a government to govern this new land, in many cases claiming it for their own. Even if the takeover was done with a treaty, this could be misunderstood. The new government set up laws, which went again the custom of the native people. They couldn't do things in their old traditional way, it wasn't allowed.

In many cases around the world the indigenous people and their culture simply disappeared. The settlers, the invaders, call them what you want, took over the country, and ran it their way. In some cases the settlers got bored, left and the people returned to a semblance of their old ways. Now, as I said, this was just an example of what happened all over the world in the time when some countries, mainly European ones, began to explore and look for other lands and the riches they might find. Sometimes much worse things happened to the indigenous people. It wasn't unknown for them to be slaughtered by the invaders. But, here in New Zealand although many of the above things happened, the Maori are still a very strong culture. Yes many died from disease in the early days; most lost their lands despite their being a treaty that said they shouldn't but they didn't run. After a while they stopped fighting and now their culture is a significant part of New Zealand life and, in many ways, becoming stronger. It is a good example of the strength of these people. But it also shows the difficulty of two cultures trying to live together. You can see this even with your own friends. If you go to a friend's house they may eat different food, at different times, have different rules, and go to bed earlier or later. They may not have a car; they may have a pet. You could even sit down with your friend and find out all the differences in what they do and what you do. Now imagine what it would be like if your friend came along and imposed his way of life on you. How would you feel? But again if you had to live in the same house, how would it be? It's not very convenient if you all eat at different times. What it needs is understanding and tolerance. Taking into account other peoples way of life and trying to fit around. Maybe in New Zealand that is happening a little more now but when the first settlers arrived that was not the case.