TIKA 163: Introduction to Traditional and Contemporary Māori Society

This past semester I took at The University of Waikato TIKA 163: Introduction to Traditional and Contemporary Māori Society. This class has taught me so much about not only about the Maori, but also about New Zealand. I have had a lot of interactions with my fellow Maori students, some examples of some cool (and funny) cultural encounters are that a group of the Maori students did not know where Ohio was within United States (I don't blame them for not knowing) and when I started to tell them where it was, one student asked me how far Ohio was from California.
When I told him it was a solid 5 days drive, his jaw just dropped. He said that he could not imagine just how big United States actually is. Another student asked me how far I lived from the ocean, and well Ohio is no where near an ocean so I needed to explain what the mid-west was and the nearest ocean was a two day drive. This really made a splash (lame pun) with the class, they could just not imagine living so far away from the ocean (New Zealand being a tiny island and all). Next they asked me where the nearest mountain is... and well... Ohio is flat... and not near any mountains... so I guessed that the nearest mountain was about a day drive away. Man were their minds blown, not only was I living no where an ocean, but also no where near any mountains... why do I live in Ohio again? 


I asked my lecturer, Tom Roa, why he enjoys teaching TIKA 163, his response is very inline with how the class is run. "As the Lecturer, I enjoy sharing perspectives in the dynamic within Traditional and Modern Worlds.  International students’ participation and questions in particular I find exciting.  You know little of New Zealand Society and History.  So you ask the questions that New Zealanders, including  Māori, are often too afraid to ask, because they might appear ignorant.  With the paper, I believe International student  learn a lot.  They didn’t know much to start with.  Other-than-Māori New Zealand students have enrolled in the paper to learn about a perspective of New Zealand society that has previously been hidden from them, so they gain much also from the paper.  Māori students self-image is reinforced.  And the melting pot in the class engenders a respect of difference, but also a reinforcement of our basic similarities."- Tom Roa.
At the end of class my lecturer shared a hongi with me, this was a serious highlight to my cultural learning experience while in New Zealand.