On Nov. 28 we flew into Fiji and since then have boarded a ship and are traveling south through the Kermadec Islands, spent several nights visiting the north island of New Zealand, and just left the Chatham Islands. Most of the islands we are visiting are VERY remote and seldom visited, never mind by cruise ships with 60 people! We have had several groups share with us their insights into their culture and world view through dances and presentations. We first visited a small island named Kadavu in Fiji, then visited a Maori village in Rotorua, and lastly a very small group of Moriori in the Chatham Islands. Thanks to my exposure to world views my Indigenous Systems of Knowledge class, I was able to look with a more open and curious mind into what influences their beliefs and cultural norms.
I wrote previously about happiness, inspired by our visit to Kadavu Island in Fiji. The excursion to a Maori village prompted thoughts about the subjugation of indigenous communities, which is a subject for a different blog, but most recently we were treated to a multi-day exposure to Mana, the leader of the Moriori community on Chatham Island. Mana was not born on the island, as the Moriori population was decimated by European settlers in the late 1700s and Maori invaders in the mid-1800s, but he returned to the land of his ancestors 25 years ago and his goal is to teach the “kids” of this generation about their heritage. The last full-blooded Moriori died in 1933, but the rekindling of Moriori life is slowly occurring as they regain their land and return it to its original state (sheep, goats, and introduced plants and animals have turned Chatham Island into farmland, but little by little the eradication of introduced species is allowing the land to return to its original state).
Listening to Mana requires attention, and a suspension of earthbound beliefs. My son spent the day sitting in the front seat of a small van with Mana, and said that one needs to stick to the visual elements of his mind processes and the flow of consciousness can be followed. Fascinatingly, Mana has a solid grounding in physical science, so his ideas travel between the comprehension of DNA, to traveling to the 14th dimension. His belief system is based upon the revisiting of his ancestors, and I believe that part of what made his oratory difficult to follow was that he himself leaves and returns to earth to check on his people. Those of us with linear worldviews have difficulty following where he has been and what he has done in “his life,” which is clearly not one lifetime, but many.
Most of the travelers in our group are interested in natural history and conservation. This makes the connection with Mana’s need to preserve the land easy to follow. But many scientific minds also have problems with the ethereal, which makes us appreciate the beauty of this Mana’s oratory, but have problems grounding it to our own belief systems. Fascinating discussions have arisen over the elegance of his imagery, and the inability to connect those images with “reality.”
Elizabeth Gould 