Backbencher

Introduction to the Aborigini and Maori cultures highlights the extreme differences which geography, climate, fauna, and availability of resources all influenced settlement of these two cultures. Although they are close in proximity, in the world view, their approach to and differences of society and culture could not be more opposite.

The Australian "outback" as it is know, was a land that is now both shaped by and managed by the Aborgini. Their use of fire to renew the lands for grazing purposes, as well as how the land responded to the perpetual use of fire by the growth of eucalyptus trees shows both management by the peoples, as well as nature responding to the fires. This type of land management shows, to me, an indepth analysis of what the land was and how it needed to be refurbished at times to better their own "ranch lands". From the little history I have studied, this was a use which was also used in the grasslands of America, probably for the betterment of grazing also. One can say that this type of rangemangement is not exactly that atypical of an early culture but maybe a simply natural phenomena that happened at some point, and they realized the benfits from it and it became not so much a phenomena.

The Maori had a totally different approach to life as dictated by their cultural views. Obviously they were an exporing people, who found this island and were attracted to it possibly by the ease of hunting the large Moa bird which were in a surplus at that time. The extinction of them proved problematic to the Maori, but they had such a synthetic culture as explained in the lectures that the ability to adapt to problems was an advantage that they had over euopeans when they "found" New Zealand. The ability to recognize things for their usefulness and then exploit it even more so was a strength of the Maori cluture.

So the differences of the cultures of Moari and Aborigini are vast. The Maori used lands to their advantage, hunted what was availiable, planted what grew well, and more so exploited what euopeans brought to New Zealand. The Aborgini had a magement program for the land, much like large roving ranchers, they did not want to change their lifestyle and tried to refuse and push euopeans back. Struggling to maintain their lifestlyes through diminishing lands.

Very polar opposite cultural outlooks on life but very interesting so far.
Dan Hillukka