Epeli Hau
RHH
November 29, 2011
ANTH 350
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
New Zealand In the book We Are the Ocean, by Epeli Hau’ofa, in his selected work of ‘Our Sea of Islands’ he says, “As far as concerns Oceania, derogatory and belittling views of indigenous cultures are traceable to the early years of interactions with Europeans. The wholesale condemnation by Christian missionaries of Oceanic cultures as savage, lascivious and barbaric has had a lasting effect on people’s views of their histories and traditions” (Hau’ofa 2008: 28). I think this quote speaks volumes and much truth about pacific cultures across the ocean in a sense that they all share this commonality of colonization. The land of the long white cloud⎯ Aotearoa New Zealand has shaped it’s people, as the people struggled to shape their land. As old wounds are slowly being healed, New Zealand is becoming a nation that is more at peace with themselves. Free from it’s previous colonial ties to Great Britain, New Zealand has emerged as a confident nation (Smelt & Jui Lin 2010: 5). New Zealand’s pacific people are a very dynamic and diverse group. Pacific people in New Zealand are represented by at least 13 distinct languages and cultural groups (http://www.mpia.govt.nz/pacific-peoples-in-new-zealand/). The many Pacific ethnicities are represented primarily by Samoans being the largest group- nearly 50%, Cook Islanders- 20%, Tongans- 18%, Niuean- 8%, Fijians are one of the smaller groups at 4% and Tokelauan groups. Also, groups with smaller numbers come from Tuvalu, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and the small islands of Micronesia (http://www.mpia.govt.nz/pacific-peoples-in-new-zealand/). Pacific people of New Zealand live largely in urban areas in the North Island. Auckland has the largest pacific population in the world with two-thirds of pacific people living in the Auckland region- 67%, with the next largest pacific population groups living in the Wellington region- 13% and
November 29, 2011
ANTH 350
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
New Zealand In the book We Are the Ocean, by Epeli Hau’ofa, in his selected work of ‘Our Sea of Islands’ he says, “As far as concerns Oceania, derogatory and belittling views of indigenous cultures are traceable to the early years of interactions with Europeans. The wholesale condemnation by Christian missionaries of Oceanic cultures as savage, lascivious and barbaric has had a lasting effect on people’s views of their histories and traditions” (Hau’ofa 2008: 28). I think this quote speaks volumes and much truth about pacific cultures across the ocean in a sense that they all share this commonality of colonization. The land of the long white cloud⎯ Aotearoa New Zealand has shaped it’s people, as the people struggled to shape their land. As old wounds are slowly being healed, New Zealand is becoming a nation that is more at peace with themselves. Free from it’s previous colonial ties to Great Britain, New Zealand has emerged as a confident nation (Smelt & Jui Lin 2010: 5). New Zealand’s pacific people are a very dynamic and diverse group. Pacific people in New Zealand are represented by at least 13 distinct languages and cultural groups (http://www.mpia.govt.nz/pacific-peoples-in-new-zealand/). The many Pacific ethnicities are represented primarily by Samoans being the largest group- nearly 50%, Cook Islanders- 20%, Tongans- 18%, Niuean- 8%, Fijians are one of the smaller groups at 4% and Tokelauan groups. Also, groups with smaller numbers come from Tuvalu, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and the small islands of Micronesia (http://www.mpia.govt.nz/pacific-peoples-in-new-zealand/). Pacific people of New Zealand live largely in urban areas in the North Island. Auckland has the largest pacific population in the world with two-thirds of pacific people living in the Auckland region- 67%, with the next largest pacific population groups living in the Wellington region- 13% and
Bibliography: Roselynn Smelt & Yong Jui Lin (2010) Cultures of the World: New Zealand. "Speech: The Importance of Tourism in New Zealand | Scoop News." Scoop - New Zealand News Frank Parsons & Charles Freemont Taylor (1904). Politics in New Zealand. Tourism Satellite Account: 2011 Taylor & Francis group (2010). Europa Regional Surveys of the World. Routledge Press The Far East and Australia 2011 (42nd Edition) Epeli Hau’ofa (2008) We Are the Ocean. University of Hawaii Press .