MAOR 216 and Rotary update

All of my updates recently have been about the trips I have been taking, so I haven’t had much chance to talk about my life in Wellington!  Don’t worry, I am still alive and doing well!

I am in the full swing of things with my Maori Studies class.  This class, MAOR 216, is all about the Treaty of Waitangi, or the treaty signed by the European settlers and many of the indigenous Maori tribal leaders.  (I think that the Maori studies department would kick me out for such a short appraisal of the significance of the treaty!)  There are many issues facing the treaty today, including translation errors, ignorance, and dissatisfaction with the handling of the document by the government.  The treaty was written in both Maori and English, but the accepted English translation of the Maori version doesn’t match the original English, and the Maori translation of the English version doesn’t match the original Maori.  Therefore, there are 4 working versions of the treaty, and this is causing problems in the area of guarantees (i.e. what is guaranteed under the treaty, what is protected, etc.)  Also, this document was signed in 1840, but it was promptly disregarded and ended up in a filing cabinet in the National Archives where it was rediscovered in the late 1900s, half eaten away by rodents.  Now, the Waitangi Tribunal hears claims put forth by Maori for lands taken and damages incurred, etc.  

My class deals with pretty much every aspect of this treaty.  We think about what it means to discuss the treaty as intellectuals, different frames of reference for the treaty, what it means for Maori and Pakeha (European settlers) societies, and more.  This class is pretty challenging for me because it is so far out of my frame of mind.  I am an engineer.  I don’t do women’s studies, I don’t do religious studies, I don’t do liberalism in a classroom.  So, when I am confronted with people who have marched on the capitol in protest, with people who are far left liberals fighting for a cause that isn’t even in a language I understand, it is very challenging.  Although knowledge of the Maori language isn’t a prerequisite for this class (they would never have let me in if it was), my ignorance of the language and Maori background makes the class very challenging and interesting.  My tutor in the tutorials is also very intimidating.  She is the kind of person who is very into her cause, who marches and protests and demonstrates, and who demands a high level of competence in her tutorials.  In the first tutorial, we had to introduce ourselves, say where we were from, what our mountain is, what our river is, and who our iwi (Maori tribe) is, all in Maori.  That was highly challenging as I have never spoken Maori that much in my life, but I am working on it.

We split into groups based on our home locations for our presentation project.  My group has all females (we’re the Kelburn/Kilburnie group), and our presentation is about the revitalisation of the Maori language after it became an official language in 1987.  Before that point, it was a punishable offence to speak Maori in New Zealand.  We have all split into different sections, mine being the Act itself and the Pakeha reaction and mindset surrounding the act.  This is a good topic for me because it is what I identify with (namely, the European perspective on the treaty and treaty-related issues) as well as bringing in another good perspective in the presentation.  I have had some trouble finding information, basically because there is no information due to a lack of interest in the Maori situation at that point in time, but that in itself is a point of interest in my presentation.  I have had to go back and search through microfiches and Parliamentary debates, getting very dusty in the process.  The presentation is Sunday afternoon, so wish me luck!

Next, a Rotary update!  This is a fairly busy Rotary month for me.  I finally got to meet Rodney Wong, the district governor, at Pencarrow’s farewell dinner for the Finnish GSE team about a week ago.  I also got to go to Meredith’s club’s Christmas party this past Sunday.  Well, I say party, but it was really more of an outing.  It was a mystery tour involving two types of transportation and several different venues.  This club has been so nice to me, inviting me along to many of their activities and really including me in the Rotary world.  Meredith and I met up with everyone at the Dominion Post ferry at 3.30 on Sunday afternoon, ready for all the excitement.  We went across the harbour to a small park, where we had a couple of glasses of wine and some peanuts and socialisation.  Later, we took a bus around the coast to Pencarrow Lodge for a sit down dinner, a bit of golfing (Meredith has a fantastic drive, let me tell you), and some more socialising.  I got to talk to many of the Rotarians I had only seen at the one meeting I had been to or briefly met through Meredith, so that was enjoyable.  I really do love getting to know all of the different Rotarians because each club is so different.

One question in particular was very thought-provoking for me.  One Rotarian asked me how I would describe this experience when I got back home, namely drinking with a bunch of Rotarians on a wind-swept beach/park in the middle of December, but also meaning the whole experience.  It got me thinking about how I could never really have anyone else understand what this experience has meant to me.  I can tell you about it, show you pictures, try to have you understand the culture, but you won’t ever be able to understand the impact it has had on my 20-year-old self.  The best that I can do is bring back all of my knowledge and experiences and try to exemplify my scholarship year through my actions.  We also talked about the fact that in 30 years, when I am explaining this to younger family members, it is going to be an ‘oohing and ahhing’ effect when they find out I lived on my own in New Zealand for a year!

Now, after that philosophical note, I believe I will go curl up with a new book.  I have a couple more Rotary speeches coming up in the next week and class all weekend, so I should have another update soon.  I am also adjusting to a summertime Christmas, so I will let you know how that is going.  Let’s just say that, for now, Christmas cookies aren’t the same without cookie cutters to make Christmas shapes and when they are made with a Nalgene bottle as a rolling pin!