RobClubley

I officially enrolled on the Mauri Ora course today which is a 12 month home study tertiary course with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa designed to teach you about the Maori customs, history, beliefs and language.

I met Aroha, my Kaitiaki (support person) today and we chatted for an hour or so about the course and what it involves.

I'm really excited about learning more about, and improving my understanding of my adopted culture.

Enrolment is free and all learning materials are provided, as well as support and assessments as you go along.

You also get invited to the marae to graduate and are allowed to wear the ceremonial robes!

http://www.mauriora.ac.nz/

P2L

Hi Rob

I'd be really interested to hear how you get on with this & how much you benefit from it.

I've seen it advertised in our local press recently and wondered whether free really was free

Keep us updated please

RobClubley

I will. I have the assessment book for the first of the four modules. Apparently this one and the fourth are easy and the middle two take a lot of effort.

I have a lot of learning to do just to understand the titles of the sections:


Descibe the life and deeds of a selected atua

Explain key concepts and practices associated with pöwhiri

Demonstrate knowledge of types of hui

etc..

Am Loolah

God, I'm lost already ... but really would be keen to hear how you get on ... I would love to do something similar - time permitting?!

RobClubley

We finished the first of the four modules and had them assessed last week.

I'm pretty impressed with the course so far.

The answer books and main guides were designed by an NZ film company and are very well produced.

The books and materials you get are excellent. In the first pack we received several books produced by Mauri Ora themselves as well as some commercially prioduced books. Also two DVDs and some CDs of waiata and Maori songs. There's a decent Maori English dictionary, pens, folders, felt tips with the colours written on them in Maori, all sorts.
The second pack has a photographic Maori history, more DVDs and CDs and other stuff. Going by the prices at Borders and Te Papa, about $250-$300 of stuff.

I found the first module hard - the text is full of Maori words which I had to look up, and it's not the sort of learning I'm used to. I'm used to learning Microsoft stuff - absolutes basically - and this is all concepts and belief systems.
Concepts like mana, tapu, noa, mauri, whanaungatanga (sp?)
It's fascinating stuff.
So are the Maori legends explaining the creation of the world and of New Zealand.

As a new immigrant, commonly used Maori words like whanau, tanagata whenua, mana, marae, taniwha etc can be confusing (certainly from personal experience!), and this course makes a start in giving an understanding.

Based on what I've seen so far I wholeheartedly recommend it to those of an open mind who want to learn more of the Maori culture and beliefs, as well as some of the language.

http://www.mauriora.ac.nz/

BEVS

How many hours a week please Rob? I'm only working part-time and would be interested but I have to factor in the dyslexia support study for Phils Master Craftsman exams.

RobClubley

The course suggests something like 30 hours a week to get the full benefit but to spend that amount of time I reckon you'd have to be reading every word of everything twice over!

I've spent maybe 3-4 hours a week tops on covering the answers in the book. I haven't read everything yet, but I intend to go back and read it all over time.

The answer books tell you what pages to look on to find the answers, so you can take short-cuts, but as I said, to get the full benefit you need to read it all at least once!

Basically you have 12 months to get all four modules completed and if you get stuck you have a kaitiaki to support you by phone or email.

CAN2NZ

Why do you say Maori is your adopted culture? I don't find that Maori culture here is very independent of the government support it receives and does not represent mass culture in New Zealand. It seems from some that I know that it is more of a hobby. Nice that you want to learn more about it yourself. My kids have to take some Maori studies at their primary school, which is OK, but at times I think that too much time is given to it.

Avid

"Maori culture...doesn't represent mass culture in New Zealand"

What do you mean exactly? I don't understand.

RobClubley is the first poster I've read on this forum who has taken an interest in the indigenous population and you are complaining?

Posters here get smothered in 'karma' and smilies just for making it to the airport but this guy has enrolled in a potentially difficult 1,500 hour home study course.

He deserves a medal...



(Should I say 'Mauri' and not 'Maori'??)

RobClubley

I wouldn't go that far!!

Maori and Mauri are different.

Maori are the people, Mauri is, well, kinda hard to explain but it's a spiritual thing, kind of a mental state.

Hang on, Google is my friend..

Mauri is the essence or life-force of both animate and inanimate objects. It binds the two parts of body and spirit together. When a living thing dies, its mauri/life-force dies with it but the wairua/spirit lives on.

RobClubley

No it's not the modern culture of New Zealand, but it is the culture of the
first people to arrive here and it has a lot of historical significance. The course will also cover the European arrival, merging of cultures, modern history, from a Maori point of view of course.
The majority of Kiwis that I know are of "white European" descent and most are very dismissive and down on the Maori people and culture.
I wanted to see other points of view to help understand these attitudes as most of what you hear from day to day is quite negative.
I'm learning that for a tribal people the Maori have a very spiritual and peaceful attitude to life within their own iwi and there are lots of traditions about getting on with other tribes and avoiding wars and violence
I'm looking forward to the historical stuff to see how it is presented and I fully intend to read up on other accounts to get perspective.

At the end of the day, I'm expanding my knowledge and I'm getting a lot from it.

CAN2NZ

I don't believe I complained I believe I said it was nice and that I hadn't noticed that the native culture was so strong as to make me feel that it was a culture to adopt like the first poster mentioned. I think you have read quite a bit more into my post then was there.

Dustybin

Good for you mate. I was having fun watching whanau on telly and picking up some maori words. Not full time study I grant you! Unfortunatly I've had to start work so thats stuffed that up. I have found a couple of good maori language sites on the net though. I really enjoyed investigating the culture as I travelled about the country and think that we should all learn a bit about our adopted land. I had similar feeling in Oz and think that we should all be careful that cultures aren't lost in the 'McDonalds' world that we live in.

Good luck with it all, it's too easy to forget that the differences between us should be embraced, not feared. (unless of course you are a sunderland supporter, then you should be laughed at!)

now thats enough deep thought for me today, where did I leave the gin?

donnaf

hi Rob,
it sounds really interesting, the organisation I work for uses lots of Maori words at meetings etc and sometimes I feel like I'm making it up as I go along (my understanding, that it is) although I do always ask at the end.
Keep us informed as to how you get on, good luck,
Donna

I'm a Sunderland supporter!!!!!Dustybin - are you a Geordie? Just seen your toon army comment, bloody Geordies, get everywhere!

Bo-Jangles

Good on you Rob! How many times do we hear complaints that immigrants to UK don't bother to learn the language and culture? You should be commended for taking the time and effort to do this and at the very least you will be able to have an educated opinion on Maori affairs. If we choose to live in a bi-cultural society, then it's only right that we should embrace all of those cultural differences. Instead of following the well trodden path of generations of previous immigrants who have been largely ignorant and woefully ill-informed about what it means to be Maori. Your education will rub off and touch on many people around you and that can only be a good thing.

I'm sure, as I have found, that Mauri ora will be just the beginning and you will come away from this wanting to learn more.

As for comments about Maori not being a 'mass culture' of NZ, depends entirely upon where you live. North Island was where the majority of Maori settled as it was too cold down South and the further North you go the more Maori it gets. Northland and Bay of Plenty regions were over 25% Maori in the last Census. Not forgetting, of course, that there is also a huge popluation of mixed race people, whose names and colour alone would not make them instantly recognisable as Maori.

Maori TV is excellent too! Not only do they have some excellent programmes, they have lots of short simple teaching programmes and you will find that the more you watch it, the more you can pick up and understand.