Adaptation to Aotearoa

While we were in Auckland, we went to Auckland’s War Memorial Museum. Sounds boring right? But it was actually very interesting. You see, we did not spend a lot of time on the floor that housed the memorial artifacts of the Kiwi soldiers from World War One (though that floor could have been extremely interesting as well). Instead we spent most of the tour learning more about Maori culture and the way they developed their culture after arriving on Aotearoa (New Zealand) more than a thousand years ago. The environment in New Zealand was not one that they were used to. The climate was colder; they did not have the same resources that they had on the other Polynesian islands. The Polynesians who came to New Zealand and became the Maori had to change so many different aspects of their lives in order to survive. They could no longer use bark for blankets or silk-like cloth and had to learn how to beat flax. They had to learn how to hunt a variety of new prey (though, with the moa and many of the other tame birds on the islands, learning to hunt them was not difficult) and live a different life.

As a resourceful people, the Maori were able adjust to this lifestyle quickly. As mentioned in the tours, the Maori quickly changed the terrain to fill their needs. They turned the volcanic hills into pa, fortresses that they could easily defend at the top. As it was only used at night, they could complete daily tasks outside the pa and retreat to safety when the sun went down. I felt that this really spoke to the community that is prevalent in Maori culture. Of course, this provided a practical way to protect their assets and a way to reveal their military prowess. By still having a pa, they exhibited their ability to protect themselves against the attacks by other tribes.

I feel that the way the first Polynesians adapted to New Zealand is similar to the ways that our group adapted not only to New Zealand, but also to each other. There will always be apprehensions before spending an extended amount of time with people that you do not know. Like the Maoris, we left as a group together to explore a new place. However, unlike them, we did not come to colonize and will eventually have to leave this beautiful country, despite how much we may want to stay. As we traveled here together, we learned the best ways to interact with one another, and how to have a fantastic adventure together. Similar to many groups of people, Maoris probably included, we have hit bumps, but we power through them in order to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome. We adjusted to a different climate as well. The Maoris were coming from a warmer climate to a colder one; we made a smooth-ish (if you count turbulence) from winter to summer providing us with a more pleasant climate change than the Maoris probably received. We made our hemisphere change a success and adapted quickly to our new surroundings. Granted, we did not have to hunt down a meal in the forest as we had the wonderful New World right across the street, but we did have to figure out how to find a way through this new city on our first day.

Although I believe we were all excited to come to New Zealand, and for the experiences that we were anticipating to have, there was at least some anxiety that I know I felt before leaving. While I was reading “The Leaving” by Bernadette Hall, though excitement can be felt within the poem, I believe that a little of anxiety can be felt as well. The narrator wanted to immigrate to Australia, and the excitement and anxiety can be found within the first stanza specifically. The spaces within the stanza visually represent these feelings, and the way the trip was causing the narrator to pause. Though the want to leave can be seen more quickly than the anxiety, it is still there. The narrator is “sick of all the old stuff,” but the spaces made me think the narrator was a bit hesitant of the decision. These feelings resonate greatly with me. Before I was able to come here, I experienced a lot of emotional highs and lows. I was excited to be a part of the program, but I faced a lot of adversity before my trip was finalized. However, despite any feelings that I may have felt before leaving the States, I am very glad that I was able to come here to New Zealand. It is an experience that I would not have passed up for the world!