Maori and Pakeha Part II

I’ve had to revise my understanding of Maori and Pakeha (non-Maori) relations since coming to the North Island. There are many more folks up here whose skin tone and facial features reveal Maori and Islander descent. In most areas of society to which we have been privy (as brief guests in NZ) we have seen Maori plainly at work and at play.
There has been a great deal of effort invested in making sure the Maori culture and language are not subsumed by European cultural influence. There are Maori immersion schools attended by both Maori and Pakeha kids. Yet the structure of the education system retains clear British characteristics. The names of most towns on the North Island are Maori: Rotorua, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Otorohanga, Te Puke. Only a few, like Gisborne, Auckland, and Hastings, retain their English names. From snippets of conversations I’ve gleaned that the names of some towns were changed within the last generation from European to Maori.
There is an expectation for New Zealand natives that they will be proficient in Maori culture and often language. After church today we visited with a Pakeha teacher who had come to the tiny rural community from Wellington to teach. He remarked that the kids will give complete deference and respect to their elders while in the marae (Maori meeting house) but will not give him any respect in the classroom. Some of this is probably the perennial problem of teachers everywhere, but there is also an added cultural component. He admitted that he did not yet have a sufficient handle on Maori language to pronounce their names properly. Until he could do that, he suspected, he would not have their respect.
Maori culture has enough clout in North Island society that all public events begin and end with prayer, often in Maori. Sara’s half-marathon yesterday began with prayer and the entire race event ended with prayer. This is not strange to anyone. The teacher commented that every class and school day began and ended with prayer. Most folks in the States would be shocked at such a thing; the teacher reflected on the irony that as an element of Maori "culture" prayer could not be banned from government or public events although it was a "religious" activity.
Here’s the even stranger thing. What are they praying when they open and close events with prayer? They’re saying the Lord’s Prayer in Maori! Maori culture was sufficiently influenced by Christian missionaries that the preservation of Maori culture includes the utterance of the Lord’s Prayer at public functions. That means most New Zealanders on the North Island are praying or hearing the Lord’s Prayer several times a day as part of accepted culture. Wow!
There are tensions in the midst of this strange synergy of Maori and Pakeha culture. A week ago all Kiwis completed their five-year census. At the end of the census form they are required to fill in a bubble indicating their ethnicity. The options include: "New Zealander, European," "Maori," "Fijian," "Cook Islander," "Asian," and others. (Sara and I had to fill out forms because we were visitors in a New Zealand home on the day of the census. It’s the first time I haven’t seen "Caucasian" or "American" on an ethnicity/nationality question.) Many New Zealanders are third, fourth, or fifth generation islanders whose ancestors are European. However they no longer consider themselves truly European; they are New Zealanders. Likewise with the Maori: many recognize that either through ethnic intermarriage or intercultural exchange they are not Maori in the ancient tribal sense. So these folks commit an act of civil disobedience (a major deal for the reserved Kiwis) and write "Other: New Zealander."
It’s fascinating to walk through this place where the subtle and not-so-subtle signs of ethnic and cultural integration are all around. Where names have been changed in a conscious effort to be less European and more Maori. Where an athletic event is accompanied by a high school group performing a haka (Maori war-dance). Where they say the Lord’s Prayer in public.
If we end up living in a place where radically different cultures or languages come together—as they have been in Los Angeles for years and inevitably will across the U.S.—I hope I remember some of the stories about the efforts of integration in New Zealand.
~emrys