REGION FIVE, North Island, West, June 2006
Ev writes
We left Pipiriki early in the morning. We drove on a narrow road next to the river surrounded by a lavish rainforest. One hour later and we were on the open road covered with snow. The snow storm was the cause of some cars sitting on the side of the road. The winter was getting wild around us. I kept thinking how people here live not that far apart but in a completely different environment and how this environment shapes their lives. We were supposed to start our travel earlier but now I was glad we saw these places without any tourists, in it's harsh conditions with which the locals have to cope in different ways.
One hour later and we got into the Waikato region and the weather was sunny and pretty warm. It was like driving through the seasons. I had my short white winter, something I always wanted, a few days of snow and then sun, without any melting and warming up period. I had it now for just one hour. It felt quite magical, like stepping into a different world. As we drove through the King Country I was reading about Maori wars, peace movements, prophets and kingitanga and realised I have nothing less than utter respect for these people.
When Europeans arrived in Aoteaora (New Zealand) they met people who still lived in the stone age. Despite their complex social system, their technology was far from the one Europeans had at their disposal, their tools and weapons were made of wood or stone. The initial visits of the Europeans were not to exterminate or dominate the indigenous people but once their home became attractive as a place for new settlements many devious approaches were adopted to strip the original inhabitants of their lands. Though further developments were not always pleasing, in theory the indigenous people were supposed to be treated correctly. Despite signing the Treaty with Maori, something which I suppose could be considered af humanitarian act of possibly honourable intentions, not long afterwards the Crown started confiscating territories and in many dubious ways the government and the companies or individuals acquired Maori lands and resources.
"Over one night the Parliament considered us rebels and confiscated 30,000 acres from us", a Maori Kuia told us. She still wears a lot of hurtful feeling about it. Maori communities, her grandparents and probably still her parents and aunts and uncles, had their problems, often arising from the contact with the Europeans. These were ignored by the government who served just the Pakeha settlers, except for occasions when national or local government wanted to appropriate land, income from taxes or manpower. Maori were unable to obtain housing finance until 1930, or borrow money for development of their lands. Land taken from Maori for public use wasn't returned after the public use was over.
Few doctors would see Maori patients and the health of Maori people was a matter of concern only so that Maori diseases would not spread amongst Europeans. Though Maori people had the benefits of the new technology and lifestyle they also often paid a very high price for it. If the land was not taken away from them, some of them would trade it for new useful things Europeans brought with them or get in debts for which the payment would be often requested in the form of land. In effect Maori people were pushed to the bottom of society. Even when they could send their children to school, the school denied them speaking their own language, one of the most important parts of the culture.
Now, 100 or so years later, Maori are finally recognized as the indigenous people and owners of these lands and their culture respected. Can you imagine, just a few generations down the road and Maori people not only learned how to use the new knowledge and technology and live in the social structures of the Europeans, share with them their culture and be an equal partner in all the areas but they also brought back their culture which had survived all the repressions it could have met. As it often happens the indigenous culture is not only repressed by the colonizers but also rejected by the people themselves who, wanting a better life for their children would often want them submerged in the new culture thinking the old doesn't give the young any good perspectives for the future.
The question now is, how to make it work well in the modern society. We don't know how Maori would have progressed and developed if the Europeans had never arrived on their lands but every society changes and develops in some way so holding rigidly to the old forms is not necessarily right. Some of the aspects of that culture may not be practical anymore in the modern western way of life that Maori have adopted, some things may have to be adjusted. The other question however is where to next. Maori were not only denied their culture, they had to live according to the laws brought by the Pakeha, be governed by the Pakeha. They were never conquered yet the Pakeha rules were imposed on them. Where to now?
Looking back at the New Zealand history and looking at it from my Polish perspective. makes me feel strongly about Maori. It has to be so difficult to find a balance, to live next to someone who did a lot of wrongs to your ancestors, yet there is no turning back. My grandma who was a child in the second world war could never forgive Germans. Many young Poles have no problem with new generations who can't be held guilty for the bad deeds of their grandparents nevertheless if you say "lest we forget" in order to honour those people who lost their lives in the war, you can not really forget the ones who were guilty of these deaths.
Maori people had to accept and learn to live with their colonizer. They did not however forget what was taken away from them. They needed time to acquire the knowledge necessary for them to be an equal opponent to the Pakeha, an equal partner in negotiations. But unlike Poles they couldn't put things into the past. The Poles don't need to live with the Germans or Russians who were not so long ago our oppressors. We have a border between us, we can forgive but we won't forget, we can be friendly with them but we are not forced to it by circumstances. They don't control now our politics, education or any aspects of social or cultural life.
There is now no full blood Maori and this could be one thing which helps in the reconciliation. But there are those that like to see Maori culture blossoming and those that think it's a waste of time. There are even differences amongst Maori themselves. There are those who want the revenge and those who want solutions. Those who want the old ways whether they fit or not and these who want progress. Maori people seem to be a good way to achieving a solution to the situation they are in but there are still a lot of grievances and there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Again, as often happens, after a period of repression comes a period of compensation, which sometimes goes too far the other way. There are not just Maori people to be considered. There are descendants of the colonizers, generations who did nothing wrong and for whom Aotearoa or New Zealand, call it as you like, is home. Why should they suffer, why should they pay for the crimes of their ancestors?
Positive discrimination will make them reject the system, will make them feel bitter against the ones for whom things are made easier. It is a very sensitive subject. It may work, it should work as long as both sides will have a lot of understanding and consideration. Or maybe even better if there won't be any sides, if all New Zealanders will work together towards the future which will see all treated fair. Gee, that was a bit of hard thinking and big words but this is a part of New Zealand life, New Zealand reality. I could write books about it because since we arrived here we have heard so many different opinions, seen so many different attitudes, were told so many different arguments and often when you hear it you think they both are so right.
This journal sponsored by Aquafi and Eurocampers
