Backbencher

Lecture one was titled Native People: Aborigine and Maori and focused directly on those two peoples. Dr. Isern began by explaining how colonial nations, such as New Zealand, Australia, and America, begin to take interest in their native peoples history as a way to identify themselves. In the case of Australia-New Zealand the native people are known respectively as the aborigines and Maori. The cultural backgrounds of these two people began long before European contact (much longer in Australia than in New Zealand) and both peoples changed their environments greatly before Europeans came and recorded history. In Australia the environment was changed and managed mainly through the means of fire where nomads would use fire to keep vegetation in check. The Maori culture began much more recently than their Australian counterparts but was just as dramatic. New Zealand lacked many of the great mammals of other continents so the main source of food was a giant bird called the Moa. This bird, unaccustomed to predators went extinct quickly due to over hunting by the Maori (among other reasons.) The contact both these peoples had with Europeans was very different in that the aborigenes, much like native americans, attempted to hold their beliefs and were seen as inferior. In New Zealand the Maori were much more adaptable to European ways and the contact was not nearly as dramatic leading to relatively good race relations in that nation which many New Zealanders take pride in.
This lecture was interesting because ill admit i have very little knowledge about the cultures of these two peoples. Besides what i know from Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin these two nations are fairly unknown to me so this insight into the culture was very new to me. It was interesting to compare the European contact in these countries with our own here in the U.S. and how the issue of race is dealt with there. My favorite part though was watching the All Blacks perform the Haka before the game and how a traditional dance of its native people has become a symbol for a nations sport team and a source of pride for the entire nation. I doubt it would go over so well in America.