Blog Four; Creation Stories and Myths of the Aboriginals and Maoris

Almost every human culture ranging from the Native Americans to the Australia Aboriginals have created and passed down a story or myth of or about their land, people, culture, ect. These stories may involve gods, or nature, or things of significant importance to the culture. I believe that these people sought to explain their culture because people seem to need to have a reason for everything. Us, being humans, have the tendency to want to explain everything. We can’t just accept “The earth was created because it just was.” Whether it be science, faith, or other thoughts, we all have our own mindset on things revolving around our culture. To put it simply, people created these myths because they desire, almost need, something to believe in. We crave the feeling of reassurance and the ability to know something greater than us. We want to know these stories and where they come from. I think that these myths are still important in today’s society, but not for everyday use. We usually use these stories for our own entertainment by stretching their accuracy to the passed down myth, and put them into books or movies. These myths can also have an effect of the way that some people act nowadays. Some that have a strong tie to their religious culture and ancestors may still participate in their culture and share with us their unique stories and past. Who knows? Even our clothing style or the food we eat may have descended from myths and stories that our ancestors created.

From simply reading the creation stories of the Maori and the Australian Aboriginals we can understand things about their culture and we can distinguish their basic values and beliefs or ideas as a culture. From reading the three different creation stories it is easy to tell that the Aboriginals value peace. Their creation story involves a more nature and animalistic theme. They also value togetherness and unity, as the text states and repeats that “the children lived together peacefully.” There is also the mention of the human mind, and how we would not want to change our shape. This is obviously not true, as many are not satisfied with their “shape,” but perhaps the Aboriginals valued their mind and themselves as they were, without the need to change themselves. The quote “[the Sun Mother] made [the humans] superior to the animals because they had part of her mind and would never want to change their shape,” is strong evidence that the Aboriginals valued themselves as human and the fact that they did not need or desire to change themselves. They were also terrified of the platypus...Just kidding. Both versions of the Maori myths have the overall same story and idea. The Maori do not so much value togetherness or peace or even nature. The Maori’s values include  the superiority of humans, mainly men. The also believe in force to achieve what needs to be done to reach creation of nothingness.the story talks about how Tane pushed his father and mother apart by physical force to create the earth. The story of the Maori’s was much darker and less graceful than the Aboriginal’s story of creation.

During class we compared and contrasted the creation myths between the Maori and the Australian Aboriginals. Both stories starts with a family, which shows a value of family in these stories, as well as creating something out of nothing. Both stories had parents before children came to play a party, gods and spirits, the importance of man, human superiority to other things in the world, and the significance of offspring and reproduction to the cultures. During the Aboriginal’s story there is a lot of mention of animals and growth in nature. There is also a “Sun Mother” and lots of caring emotions. It was a graceful story that mentioned the creation of humans because of the unhappiness with the animals created before. At the end, there was also a peaceful separation of the god’s own free will. There was little struggle, and it brought a serene inspiration to the mind. The Maori however had a much darker theme to their creation story. This story possessed an “Earth Mother” and a “Sky Father.” In this myth, humans were created before animals and already more valued than any others. This story may be in the dark, but the main goal is finding the happiness and he light. This still is no excuse to have the right to hurt others to create something for your own benefit. The Maori will do whatever need be to reach their goals and values. This story also mentioned a great separation by force, not of one’s free will. These differenced explain the different cultural behaviors and values of each different culture.

Old creation stories have less of a place in society today. With advances in sciences and different faiths these myths have dwindled in their significance to the modern world. But there are things that can be taken from these stories that science cannot explain, such as universal problems in the world. These aspects include things such as the natural presence of envy and jealousy in people. The Aboriginals show this problem through the animal spirits and their desire to change due to their arguing. This shows how people naturally argue, even over the simplest things, and how we are willing to become savage to get what we want. The Maori myth also represents war and struggle between people. It shows separation, and the ability of humans to hurt other to obtain one’s desires. It also shows the physical and emotion struggle of a person to reach “the top,” or where one wants to be. Both stories also show the failure of families and separation. These problems are still present around the world today and cannot be simply explain by physical science.

There are many creation stories still in society today, that is to say religion, faith, or your beliefs. The “creation myth” I believe in is that God created the world, nature, animals, and a man and a woman. I’m a religious Lutheran and this is our belief of creation. I believe that because I have faith in this story that I am more open to ideas and change, unlike for example people that may believe in science and the “Big Bang.” My beliefs also give me the ability be thankful for what I am given and the “story” teaches me about nature vs. man and how to make the right choices in what I do in life. This had made me come to view the world as something precious and beautiful. Sadly, I feel as though we are sometimes corrupting the world and hiding it’s beauty. Nature is one of my big values. I love the outside, and to see the world that is untouched by humans. I also value my family, because in the Christian story of creation Adam and Eve only had each other. I am very grateful for my family and friends because I have people to rely on, such as Adam and Eve were there for one another. My beliefs on the creation of the earth and man has shaped my values and views in the way that I have come to love this world and find peace in nature and my family. This is how the Aboriginals and Maori created these myths. They took their values and put it into a story to have the ability to believe in something different and true to their culture.

*An early Aboriginal creation story; the Sun Mother

*The Maori creation myth that we read in class.

*The Biblical creation myth; Adam and Eve

Blog Three; The Good Ol' History of Australia and New Zealand

When we travel to a place it's important to learn about the history of place you go to visit. It improves your overall knowledge of the area you are going and will make you trip more enjoyable when you don't have to stop your travels to think about something you don't understand about the place. There are quite a few similarities and differences between Australia and New Zealand, and the United Sates that occurred over history.
In 1769 Captain James Cook, an English explorer made his first voyage to New Zealand. This inspired other Europeans to travel to the islands to explore. He would later make two more voyages to New Zealand. Around the same time, in 1770, Britain claimed Australia and later settled the first of six colonies in 1788. In the mid to late 1700s in the United States the British were also in control. Taxes were being put and/or raised on goods. The Boston Massacre and the boston Tea Party (along with other Intolerable Acts) occurred around that time. The English were attempting to take over as many places as possible during this time. When Captain Cook "land[ed] in Bontany Bay on the eastern side of Australia and claimed New South Wales for Britain," the Aborigines did not put up a fight, unlike the Americans did when the British took over the United States (australianexplorer.com).
In New Zealand, the Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, giving the British control in exchange for guaranteed possession of their lands and protection from harmful outside forces. During the 1940s in the U.S. we gained territory, our population grew, and we participated in the Mexican War (americasbesthistory.com), While New Zealand stayed peaceful, we went into battle. No much later, in the 1850s, Gold is discovered in southern Australia. Settlements were completely deserted when people rushed to gold mines. In the U.S. during the 1850s we didn't have gold, and we didn't rush to leave empty spaces. Those years were mainly centered around the organization or land and territories.
New Zealand was able to stay pretty peaceful until 1860 when the Maoris and Europeans began a war that would last for years. Now it was our turn for peace (at least for a short time) when Abraham Lincoln was elected president and we were currently not in a massive war, such as the Maoris (wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1860.htm). Then in 1861 gold was discovered in Tuapeka, New Zealand. Both Australia and New Zealand discovered gold in their land within years of each other, and each lead to a large gold rush.
In 1901 six colonies formed together to create the Commonwealth of Australia that had a democratic government. Only a ceremonial role was given the Britain. Then in 1907, within the British Empire, New Zealand became a self-governing community (dominion). In the early 1900's of the U.S. the country experienced not much government change rather than social change and movement through art and literature. At this time Australia and New Zealand both experienced government changes with Britain still a part of their government and territory. This different from the United States' changes through economics and books.
In 1947 New Zealand gained it's independence from Great Britain. This happened on account of New Zealand passing the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act and the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act in order to abolish the Legislative Council (parliament.nz). During 1947 in the U.S. the Taft-Hartley Act was passed allowing monitoring of labor and work forces. Other than that, it was mainly a year for sports and films successes. The year 1947 was an important one for New Zealand; not so much for the United States.
Aborigines are given the right to vote in 1962 Australia, even though New Zealand had already given even the women the right to vote by 1893. Five years later they are finally recognized as citizens in their home country. This was also the time that Australia entered the Vietnam War (vietnam-war.commemoration.gov). In 1962 America there were different Acts and changes in the government, as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both Australia and the United States are close to danger at this point.
In 1976 The Aboriginal Land Rights Acts was passed in Australia.This gave the Aborigines the right to make claims on their ancestral land located in the Northern Territory. This was a huge legal turning point in Australia. This gave safety and power to the Aborigines. Nine years later the Aborigines gained back Uluru. In the United States during 1976 there was not a high social change or legal turning point, but the death penalty is socially accepted as a form of punishment. (Yikes! >.<)
The in 2008 the Australian parliament apologized formally for wrongs committed against the Aborigines in the past. This may possibly be the point in time that harsh feelings were eternally settled, and a new life could be made for all citizens and countries involved. 2008 in New Zealand was a big year for politics and government events. The United States' main events of 2008 were very similar to New Zealand's events, dealing with government affairs. The major events in history have slowed down for all three countries at this point.
By learning about the history of Australia and New Zealand in comparison to the United States I feel as though I am more prepared to travel to these places. I have a better overall understanding of these countries and know what to expect in my learning when I go there.


*Captain James Cook lands in Australian and New Zealand


*Early gold rushes in Australia and New Zealand