Maori Culture Essay

According to Deborah McGregor, the term “environment” encompasses many different aspects of nature. From a contemporary perspective, the environment means the components of the earth such as: land, all layers of the atmosphere, all organic and inorganic material, and interacting natural systems. However, for indigenous populations, “environment” is more than the surrounding physical attributes of nature. The term “world view” emerges from the intense bond between indigenous populations and the environment. As a result environment also encompasses how one views and experiences the world (McGregor, 2015). Unfortunately, McGregor (2004) finds that traditional ecological knowledge surrounding environmental

After the European influence upon indigenous Hawaiian culture, “Hawaiians radically reinterpreted and transformed their culture… part of this transformation was the abandonment of the kapu system in 1819.” The meaning of the organization of architecture no longer reflects upon ideology of the Hawaiians, but the adaptation of more technological advanced living space. As a result, “many temples were dismantled or destroyed, leaving only he foundation stones” (Ladegoged, #).

Throughout Australian history, Aboriginal people have been displaced and mistreated through the course of time, through the separation from their from kinship groups, land and the stolen generation. This has resulted in the connection to their dreaming lost, misconnection and loss of their sacred sites and traditional food from their land. As a consequence of the stolen generation, many aboriginal children were deprived of their parents, families, spirituality, language from their land and their cultural identity. All of these aspects contribute to the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities.

The Dreaming: Aboriginal spirituality relies on the dreaming to describe the "fundamental reality" of aboriginals past, present and future. Aboriginals concept of time was and is different to the modern western society. They believe the concept of dreaming began at the beginning of creation and repeats through every generation- "the dreaming began at the dawn of time, remains bound up in the present, and will endure forever." As the dreaming is still present today in Aboriginal spirituality, it shows how the dreaming connecting adherents to their law, customs, spirituality through the paradigms of song, dance, art and rituals. For example, The 'Be' story that comes from the Dalabon country explains the connection between animals and humans

In the last 60,000 years Australian indigenous knowledge has advanced through generations. Unlike western culture where knowledge becomes known through written text 's,Indigenous knowledge is developed by images, words, patterns, sounds, smells and tastes on different canvases such as sand, soil, the body and rocks (Blair 2008). Furthermore, Since British colonisation in 1788 threats to traditional indigenous knowledge existed then and more now in modern society. Main threats include agricultural and industrial developments, territorial pressures including deforestation, social and economic pressures including assimilation, poverty, education, loss of languages,political pressures,the recognition and standing of indigenous traditional knowledge including involvement in policy and legislative development, cultural integrity and globalisation. It is important that these threats are resolved and Indigenous knowledge is contexulizised into our education systems as it can bring a better understanding to Australian indigenous history.It is important that teachers incorporate indiginoues knowledge into classroom as It can also give students the ability to think comprehensively when exploring social problems in the environment and the awareness of the relationship that people share with their environment and also increase understanding and respect of other cultures (Rahman,2013)

It seemed like a normal day at the time, the sun was shining, the waves crashed on the shore, steady and reassuring. I did a lot of thinking that day. I thought of my future, of what I wanted to accomplish in life.Only now I realize that it wasn’t a normal day at all. It was the day I decided to graduate early.

Around the world, there are many Indigenous groups having practiced their own traditional cultures. Through the history and following globalisation, traditional cultures have gradually disappeared. For example, in Japan, there are Ainu people had established their own culture, but they were assimilated to Japanese culture because of the annexation to Japan in the mid-1800s. Therefore, until recently, they have used the Japanese language and been educated and lived as Japanese. However, there are many traditional cultures which have still practiced over the time. Those existing cultures may be more significant than those cultures that have disappeared. Particularly, Indigenous performing arts tend to be survived over the time and actively protected to preserve. This essay will argue that Indigenous dance and chant have had significant roles to Indigenous people in many aspects. Firstly, this essay will examine hula’s several roles among the Hawaiian culture and society in the past and current. Secondly, it will focus on the relationship between haka and the Maori’s mentality and spirituality over the time. Finally, it will investigate Ainu chant, yukar, and its particular changes of importance to the Ainu.

The Haida and the Māori were cultures that had similarities and differences. Both the Haida and the Māori value children, but their myths show that they view humans and human nature differently. The moon, the stars, and the sun are important parts of the world around the Haida. Raven goes searching for women to accompany men. The children fail at first, but work together to separate their parents.

Aboriginals or indigenous Australians are the native people of Australia. Aboriginals were nomadic people who came to Australia about 40,000 – 60,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Religion is a great part of Aboriginal culture. The essay answers these questions: What do Aboriginals belief? What is a Kinship system? What is Dreaming and Dreamtime? What rituals does Aboriginals have?

Introduction of new temptations into Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people’s lives such as alcohol, drugs, processed foods or un-natural to their culture, technology (more in the 20th century plus), clustered living environments, un-organization (within the community, family), money and greed

Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experience, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective. They shape our perceptions of experience and can influence our beliefs. The Media representations of the Maori Culture shape a perception and give New Zealand Maori a negative perception of who they are and how they act. These representations also transfer to the rest of the world giving them a perception of what the Maori Culture is supposedly like. The "Bloody legend" advertisements, New Zealand show "Police Ten 7" and the NZ filmed and directed movie "BOY". All present a varied negative representation of the Maori Culture in New Zealand.

Australian Aborigines are thought to have the longest continuous cultural history in the world. Yet, within a hundred years, the near extinction of the Aboriginal culture almost occurred. This single event, the invasion of the Australian continent by European settlers, changed the lifestyle, the culture, and the fate of Australian Aborigines. Their entire lives were essentially taken away and they were forced into a white, European world where the lifestyle change could not have been any different. Aborigines in Australia today are struggling to deal with a past in which they lost touch with their culture and now are trying to regain some of that cultural identity.

Douglas, G. (2010) Social and Cultural Meanings of Tolerance: Immigration, Incorporation and Identity in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 125-148.

The article, Stereotypical Constructions of the Maori ‘Race’ in the Media, written by Melanie Wall (1997), can be summarised as an article focusing on the effect the colonisation of New Zealand had on the Maori as a population. It mainly focuses on the way Maori have been imagined as the stereotypical ‘Black Other’. It speaks of the perpetuation and (re)formation of Maori identities, including the way Maori are constrained by their ‘Black Other’ stereotype within New Zealand. The article talks about representations of race through ‘identity images’, the effect of the Maori Renaissance (in particular its effect on identity formations), and Maori Stereotypes in the Media.

“From the 1970s, a major cultural shift known as the ‘Maori Renaissance’ created a context for the emergence of a Maori perspective in New Zealand filmmaking.” The New Zealand feature film, Ngati is considered to be a product of the ‘Maori Renaissance’ and it remains a noteworthy film today for being the first film directed a Maori, namely Barry Barclay. This essay seeks to examine the racial representations of Maori and Pakeha, the historical context of the late 1940s and the Maori identity in Ngati. Barclay’s film is unlike previous films such as The Romance of Hinemoa, The Te Kooti Trial and Rewi’s Last Stand which was based on a dominating Pakeha perspective. The release of Ngati signalled a turn of tables in favour of Maori as they were able to present Maori and Pakeha representations, the historical context of the late 1940s and Maori identity from their perspective.