In the South Pacific there are three main cultural groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Melanesia is the region of islands around Papua New Guinea and Micronesia is the region around the Phillipines. Polynesia is the islands scattered around the South Pacific, including New Zealand, settled by Polynesians around 800 years ago. The Polynesians are the largest of the three groups. These people can be characterized as ocean faring people who could sail long distances from island to island in outriggers, using the stars as navigation. It’s hard to explain why, buy I have always had an affinity for Polynesian culture. Chalk it up to the romantic in me, or my great love of the oceans. Isolated on what could seems like island paradises to an outside, the Polynesians found a way to colonize the entire South Pacific, a distance of thousands of miles. And if navigating for days in an outrigger in the worlds largest ocean, using only starts isn’t cool, well then I don’t know what is. They were a complex, hierarchal, predominately ocean-faring civilization with kings and queens, wars, and rich customs, beliefs, and legends; what is not to love? And yet, on top of all of that, the thing that I find the most fascinating about them is that they are one of the longest-living civilizations to have existed without making contact with any other civilization, lasting all the way up to the 18th century. Therefore, it is with great excitement that I write about visiting the civilizations of the great navigators.
The history of New Zealand began around 1300 CE when Polynesian populations migrated to the islands, calling their new found home Aoeteroa. Aoeteroa was actually already populated by a people of unknown origins. However, from the time of their colonization and onwards, the Maori became the dominant inhabitants of the two islands. In Maori legend, Aotearoa was created by Maui (the polynesian equivalent of Hercules) when he pulled up the islands with his fishing hook. Scientifically, New Zealand is thought to be a part of a continent that is 90% underwater that is called Zealandia. Separated from Australia by 1000km of the Tasman Sea, and bordered by the vast Pacific Ocean in the east and the chilly Southern Ocean in the South, the Maoris were isolated from the rest of the world for centuries. That is, until Captain James Cook, the famed explorer, arrived at the East Coast of the North Island in 1773. Control of New Zealand then became a struggle between British colonists and the Maori until the Treaty of Watangi in1840. This effectively gave the British governance of the islands, although the Maori felt decieved. It is important to note as well that the Maori have larger populations in their countries compared to some places such as Australia and the US. This was in part due to the treaty, but also because a smallpox vaccine, which decimated millions of indigenous people across the world, was created before active colonization efforts began, thus allowing a respect for MAori culture to persist in the country to this very ay. even now, Maori text is printed beside the english. However, despite this respective and progress made, there are undoubtedly still some levels of inequality between indigenous and non-indigenous people in New Zealand society.
New Zealand was very much an English colony so it very much has English cultural aspects as well. The food is one example. Since most native mammals were too small to eat, the Maori often engaged in cannibalism; but ever since colonization, the diet has been very much anglicized. The accent of New Zealand is also peculiar. It is similar to an Australian accent, but more nasally and with a hint of a Scottish twang. And of course, they drive on the left side of the road. Lastly, there is an air of excitement and progress that I have seen amongst New Zealanders. It seems to me that most are optimistic about the future of New Zealand. It is a refreshing change of pace in today’s climate.
Now that I’ve laid out the general information of the country, let me set the scene for my trip. I have just finished studying abroad in Australia and I’m making my way back home, with stops along the way: New Zealand, French Polynesia, California, and finally home. It is June so that means it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere. While in New Zealand, it was about 11-15 degrees Celsius (55-60 Farenheight) every day. Some days were nice and sunny while other days it absolutely poured. New Zealand is also crazy about rugby and their team the All Blacks. It just so happened that the week I was there was also when a British team called the Lions were touring the country. Everywhere I went there were references to the All Blacks or the Lions, as well as tons of British and Irish tourists. I ony had a week, so I stayed only in the North Island of the country. The farthest north I went was Auckland and the farthest south was Taupo. I went to the Coromandel Peninsula in the east and to Waitomo in the west. Basically, it was a giant loop of the top half of the North Island, excluding the Northern Peninsula. I drove for most of the time I was there, renting a campervan. The landscape od where I was at was mainly mountains or hilly countryside, making it a great drive with tons of twists and turns. The landscape of the North Island is lush and green, a very light shade for the grass and a darker hue for the forests and trees. The trees were one of my favorite parts, for they were old and primordial- ancient remnants of the super-continent called Gondwanaland. Indeed, there were many forest filled with ferns, making me feel as if I have been transported back to the Cretacous Era. Finally, due to it’s small size, New Zealand does not feel as empty as Australia, despite having only about 4-5 million people compared to the 40-50 million sheep.