Backbencher

Lecture 1 dealt with the native peoples of Australia and New Zealand. It is thought that the Aborigines were the first native people to originate in Australia. They created a way of life through what is called "fire-stick" farming in which they burned pretty much all of Australia's rainforests to make room for vegetation. They carried torches with them at all times, which was helpful in keeping warm as well as cooking food. This technique is believed to be the cause of Australia's very dry land and spinifex grass that covers most of the continent. When the Europeans eventually arrived in Australia, they looked down on the Aborigines, and immediately imposed their beliefs and ways of life upon them. They even went as far as kidnapping the Aborigine children and adopting them into white families. The whites strongest weapon was disease, which wiped out most of the Aborigines who were not yet immune. This information suprised me mostly because I think I related it so much to U.S. history of native americans. It's odd to think how alike the wars between native americans and whites were, yet they were continents away.
The native people of New Zealand were called Maoris, and it is believed that they came from Asia. The conflict between whites and Maoris was very different than that from Aborigines. A big difference was that Maoris were pretty much immune to the whites diseases. They also had a very organized way of life, and it bothered the europeans that the Maori were good at what they did. It was actually genius for the Maori to adopt the European's forced ways, because eventually the Maori mastered these ways and "trumped" the Europeans at their own game. The Maoris were also more violent than the Aborigines. As soon as they came in contact with the Europeans they were fighting them off, sometimes even eating them. They also fought with weapons such as guns and adopted European warfare techniques such as trenches. The Maori were never actually defeated but instead gave in to the Europeans because they could live with their ways. But in my mind this presents an interesting question, what would have happened in New Zealand if the Maori had never given up?