Backbencher

Lecture one was on the native peoples of Australia and New Zealand. The first topic that we covered in depth was the origin of the Aboriginal people and their impact on nature. The Aboriginal people used fire stick farming techniques in order to shape the land for their needs. The Aboriginal people were considered nomads. They lacked a structure of hierarchy in society and were mainly isolated, which explains the disastrous impacts of European disease. The second major topic we covered was the Maori people of New Zealand. They are different from the Aboriginal people in several ways, they were more of a settled people, they had a larger population and most importantly they organized their knowledge by the use of whakapapa. Whakapapa is how the Maori relate to their place in the world, not only geographically but through their family ties as well. We covered in depth the impact of the European migration on the Aboriginal and Maori people. The European people took over the country with little regard to the native peoples of both countries. The last area we covered is the race relations in Australia and New Zealand. In both countries the native people are disliked. However the Maori are managing to hold their own and have even had a population increase during the twentieth century.
Overall I found this to be an interesting lecture. I enjoyed learning about the native peoples of both countries. The two cultures are different in several ways, which I found surprising, seeing as both countries were settled from similar peoples. I would like to learn more about the current race relations between the European-Australians and the native people of Australia.