Korean Job Discussion Forums

[excitinghead]

I haven't studied relations in Australia and New Zealand with Aborigines and Maori much, but I think it made a huge difference having a treaty in the latter, compared to merely having a legal concept of 'terra nullius' in the former, pretending that the whole contintent was empty before Europeans came and Aboringines didn't exist is not a good starting point for harmonious relations!

But I have studied relations with Chinese gold diggers during the gold rushes in both a lot, and then relations with the ones that stayed, and if I had to sum up what I'd learned it's that New Zealanders in the period come across as much more, well, civilised and with more respect for the rule of law. In Australia, this led to what passed for the police not so much joining in as actually leading virtual pogroms of Chinese diggers. In New Zealand though, I read numerous conversations between NZ diggers and the police that went something like this:

NZ digger: Those dirty filthy stinking Chinese are at again!
Police: Damn stinking heathens! Yellow slitty eyed bast*ards should all go back to China! What have they done?
NZ digger: They want to rape our women! And they keep finding more gold than us...they must be stealing it!
Police: Erm...has any woman been raped?
NZ Digger: No...but that damn evil look in their eyes, give them half a chance and they will...
Police: Oooookay....did you see them actually take the gold?
NZ Digger: Well...no, but boy do we have to keep an eye on it! It can't be that they don't drink and work harder than us, they must be dirty theives!
Police: Well for God's sake my good man! We can't do anything if they haven't actually done anything wrong yet...maybe you can provoke them?

I admit, I haven't studied the subject in 10 years, but I think that this attitude towards "inferior peoples" is pretty telling, and explains a great deal about why relations with Maori are so relatively good now. In contrast, to give a bit of perspective, in Queensland it wasn't made illegal to hunt Aborigines for sport until 1935!

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

[pounamu]

Kia ora,
I'm Maori and I've been reading these posts with interest.
Let me just say that everything between indigenous
and non-indigenous people in New Zealand has come a
very long way.

The English and Maori signed a treaty in 1840 allowing
The Queen ownership, and the Maori all governing
rights. However, there have been numerous grievances
because the original meaning of the Treaty has been
lost in translation. Some confusion, some bitterness,
some resolve...

Currently, the majority of Maori seem to be somewhere
near the bottom of the social economy. Many of us are
not well-educated, many of us are constantly involved
in crimes related to drinking, fighting and drugs. The last
statistics I read (a really long time ago) stated that Maori made
up 10% of the population but 50% of the inmate
population.

I think that we've come a long way, absolutely, but we
have far to go as far as changing our national image.

[happeningthang]

[djsmnc]

I think the US was nicest, seeing as how the Indians were all scalping the settlers and attacking their trains and stuff.

[kermo]

I'm from Winnipeg, which has the highest concentration of urban natives in Canada. The poverty, unemployment, crime and addiction is rampant, and so is the racism. I've heard it all over the place, especially from the older generation.

[darkhorse_NZ]

the fact that i've met quite a lot of Maori here teaching in Korea is testament to the fact that Maori are probably the best off of the indigenous groups of these four countries. I haven't yet but I wouldn't be surprised to meet a native North American here but if I ever came across an Aborigine teaching English here I'd be pretty gobsmacked.

The Aborigines have had it pretty rough and I dare say it's because the poor blighters were not numerous enough or warlike enough to put up any stiff resistance to the colonists and thereby win any concessions in a treaty or something like that from the Brits.

Recently, John Howard, the Aussie PM sent in Aussie Federal Police to ban and confiscate pornography and alcohol in remote, rural Aboriginal townships because of the shocking incidence of sexual abuse of minors in these places.

However, NZ race relations aren't perfect and there is a huge divide in Maoridom itself between a fast-emerging, educated middle class and an uneducated, disenfranchised underclass that is responsible for more than the fair share of crime in the country. Although I do think the media play it up a bit to be honest.

[safeblad]

[happeningthang]

[happeningthang]

[darkhorse_NZ]

[safeblad]

apologies.... reading back i did jump the gun a bit , it started when i read yata boys 'i prefer to blame the english' comment on the first page...

and with the history comment i wasnt referring to new zealand or australia for that matter.

spending lots of time with other english speaking people has conditioned me to be over-sensitive to these issues.

[Tony_Balony]

The US has been friction free for a long time in this area. No major incidences or grievences lately. Its been quiet.

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

[Tony_Balony]

Yes it does - lack of friction means peace, its a real peace. Its an absence of agitation not entirely due to stupification by head clubbing.

The Northwest Indians want to whale, PETA says no. In the midwest the Indians want to spearfish, the locals say no. As of late the nature of the confrontations have been superficial. Indians have been generally sucking up to the Fed and acting docile so that the get tribal recognition and then more benefits. The last bad thing i've read about my states Indians have been Latin gang activity on the reservations.

The whole concept of them doing well is moot because when we say "well" we mean become just like white people. Is that well? We measure health by some straight forward means; lack of violence, education, general health. We stopped trying to assimilate them aggressively and we do that passively now.

The Maori, Aboriginies and American's Indians are all very different people so doing well for each group has very different meaning. American Indians are also very clannish, we have appoximately 1400 different tribes as well as the Hawaiians.