What America Can Learn From the Maoris and the Kiwis

In the U.S., many students are taught only fragments of American history. We’re taught about our victories and greatness, but less about our travesties, and even less about the true foundations our country was built on. The Native Americans who first lived on and cultivated American soil were abused and slaughtered by the original English settlers, and this is a part of our history that we try to hide.

We now scrutinize and discuss the horrors of what’s been done to the Native Americans more than ever before. More people are acknowledging both the atrocities of the past and how Native Americans are affected today. I see countless statistics about rising rates of abuse and assault on Native American women and hear many accounts of how Native Americans still face discrimination from those who consider themselves “true Americans.”

But it feels hard to do anything about it when you’re only one person. Reparations are something that the government should be handling, and while there has been progress, there’s still so much silence around the issue. We continue to preach that America has always been the greatest country in the world while ignoring what this “great country” has done. Sometimes it feels like it’s impossible to help natives when we live in a society like this.

But my perspective shifted when my family and I took a trip to New Zealand last Winter. I still remember the first words I saw when we landed in Auckland airport. Not the expected English “Welcome,” but instead “Kia Ora,” the Maori phrase for “hello.”

The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and, even after facing similar assault from their colonizers, still make up a small, strong portion of New Zealand’s population. During the two weeks I was in New Zealand, I learned more about the Maori than I have about America’s own natives.

“Kia Ora” was written everywhere, from signs to pamphlets to posters. Everywhere I looked, there were words and phrases translated into Maori. Even the nation’s airline, Air New Zealand, uses the language frequently. This is both for the benefit of the Maori population and to teach others about New Zealand’s original language. While it’s true there are countless different languages used by the Native Americans, I can’t even imagine one being taught in the U.S.

I found myself greeting people with “Kira Ora” plenty of times during the trip, and the simple gesture was always received with a smile. It made me feel somewhat connected to the Kiwis, the nickname for New Zealand’s people.

Museums never shied away from the cruel parts of native’s history either. There’s a fascinating exhibit about New Zealand’s role in World War I, featured in Wellington’s Te Papa Museum. There, I learned about the Maori who were sent into battle and was surprised by the acknowledgement of the many soldiers who were people of color. I feel like we don’t often discuss the people of color who fought in America’s armies during World War I, II, or, more prominently, the Vietnam War.

One of the main things that stood out to me, though, was the acknowledgement of land. Many public buildings and major historical sights made announcements acknowledging that this was Maori land and that they respect the original land ownership.

New Zealand’s neighbor, Australia, is also following this movement. The last time I visited the country (over a year ago),many museums and theaters I visited made similar announcements about the tribes that originally owned their land — even the famed Sydney Opera House did it.

It’s difficult to imagine America publicly doing something like this. It would mean admitting that our country was built on stolen land.  Unfortunately, many of us are too prideful to admit it. But some things are changing for the better.

A local theater near my hometown announced their acknowledgement of being built on what was once land belonging to the Lenape tribe. Hearing this before the beginning of the play I was there to see made me smile and reminisce about my travels.

New Zealand may not be a perfect country, but it feels like they’ve done more for the Maori than we’ve ever done for our Natives. We can’t take back what the original settlers did, but we can start to learn from it. Simple things like sharing Native American languages and history can help enlighten others and create a positive impact. America isn’t the greatest country in the world, but we can work together to make it that way, and it starts with acknowledging the people who really began this country.