Cultures and Traditions of the New Zealand

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh-0knDpn5g

1.1 Ethnicity

New Zealand has multicultural mix and a wide spread of ethnicity that is over changing over the years. According to an annual report (Statistics New Zealand, 2006), European remains as the largest ethnic group, taking up 67.6% of the population. Coming behind the Europeans are the Maori group, which makes up 14.6% of the population. Other ethnic groups in New Zealand includes Asians, Pacific people, Middle Eastern, Latin America, African and New Zealander. Throughout New Zealand, Auckland has the most diverse ethnicity.

Europeans

Under this category, it is made up by New Zealander European, English, Dutch, British and Australian. New Zealander European as the majority, however, has decreased over the years, while the rest of the groups have increased in numbers.

Maori

In New Zealand, one out of seven people belongs to the Maori group. This ethnic group is also the indigenous tribe that remains in New Zealand. Many Maori lives in the North Island till this date. Maori is a special ethnic group where traditional festivals and rituals are still carried out. Further information about Maori will be covered later.

Asians

Asians is the fourth largest ethnic group, making up 9.2% of the population. (Statistics New Zealand, 2006, p. 4) Chinese makes up the largest component, totalling up to 147,570 people in 2006. Other Asians includes Indian, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, Sri Lankan and Cambodia, and that these immigrants have brought their faith with them to New Zealand.

Pacific Peoples

In 2006, there were 6.9% of the New Zealand population (Statistics New Zealand, 2006, p. 5) that belongs to the pacific people. The pacific people are the ethnic group with largest children proportion in New Zealand, making up 37.7%. Amount this ethnic group, Samoan is the biggest group, followed by Cook Islands Maori, Tongan, Niuean, Fijan, Tokelauan and Tuvaluan respectively.

New Zealander

New Zealanders are inhabitants of New Zealand. This group totalled up to 430,000 approximately (Statistics New Zealand, 2006, p. 6). In this ethnic group, there are a slightly lower proportion of people aged 0 to 14 years old as compared to the total population. This ethnic group consists of more male over female.

1.2 Religion

In New Zealand, there is no state religion as compared to other countries. Also, there is a freedom of religion due to the Treaty of Waitangi. However since the country is made up of mainly Christians, New Zealand’s national anthem – God Defend New Zealand is powerfully Christian in lyrics and name. However, the irony in New Zealand is, although Christian populated, the visitorship to Church is usually 10 to 20% and only during festivals such as Easter Day and Christmas.

Christianity

Christianity is the predominant religion in New Zealand, with more than 3/5 of the population embracing it. Christianity is made up of 19 sub religions – to name a few major group; Anglicans, Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist. Some of the minor groups include Asian Christian and Orthodox.

Maori Christian

Making up to 65,000 people, this religion is can be further broken down to Ratana, Ringatu and other Maori Christian.

Spiritualism and New Age Religions

Another major religion group that totals up to 19,000 consists of several sub-religions. They include Spiritualist, Nature and Earth based religion, Satanism and other new age religions.

Other religion

Other major religions may include Buddhism, Hinduism, Islamism and Judaism. Some minor religions are Sikh, Theism and Jainism. On the other hand, around 1/3 of New Zealanders embraced themselves with no religion.

1.3 Cuisine

A typical hangi

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyV1OxTU_W4&feature=related

Cuisine in New Zealand has a cosmopolitan influence that comprises a special blend of cuisines from Pacific Rim, European, Asia and Polynesia. Thus, it is always tough to have a single definition for New Zealand’s cuisine. The dining of these cuisines varies from the garden to beach to countryside, making New Zealand only one of its kind. Renowned for the superb quality and freshness of food offered, New Zealand possesses a distinctive cuisine that only could be found in the country. Her cuisine is definitely a culinary adventure for hungry travellers (Biuso, 2006, p. 86).

Some of the common game meat offered is lamb and sheep. Located in a favourable climate, these breeds strive producing sweet tasting and tender meat. This is the main reason why roast lamb and hogget is the popular choice for a family meal in New Zealand. Also in New Zealand, encountering award-winning wines is very common. Famous for her wine industry, wines play a big part in the cuisine.

Maori is another outstanding cuisine. Maori cuisine was inspired by the history behind the Maoris. In this cuisine, it consists of kaimoana, fish, shellfish, crab and edible plants that are cooked in various methods such as the hangi – heating stones in the pit with a large fire until they are white hot, placing baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering (NZ History.net, 2007). Some of the common dishes in this cuisine include fried tuna, kai moana and whitebait. New Zealand offers a wide and dynamic range of cuisines that is unable to be condensed into words. One must be there in order to truly immerse himself in the exotic and mouth savouring dishes.

1.4 Literature

Back in 1930s, New Zealand literature was dominated by a nationalist movement, to address the challenge of defining independence from the “mother country”, Britain, whose identity had been adopted virtually by proxy until then (Biuso, 2006, p. 41). In New Zealand, literature put in the picture diverse stories from different perspective, while some widespread ones include history of New Zealand and her communities. Some of the famous poets include Allen Curnow(Right), Denis Glover and RAK Mason. In New Zealand, many fine works are produced by famous poets and one of which is the Philip Temple’s A Sort of Conscience which tells the story about a family who started the colonisation of New Zealand.

1.5 Lifestyle

Most of the New Zealanders have abundant land which explains why they usually live in stand-alone houses. While changes are taking place in the country, there has been a boom in terraced housing and apartments. Also, in the recent trend, New Zealanders are rushing to the coastlines in search for their ideal home.

New Zealanders are friendly and often have a laidback attitude; perhaps a result of a four weeks paid holiday a year and the balance between work and life. Just like any other Western countries, New Zealanders are hospitable and welcome tourists warmly. In New Zealand, people are not judged on their gender, what colour they are and what race they belong too, which explains why New Zealanders’ lifestyle is highly sought by the rest of the world. On another note, similar to Singapore, New Zealanders are marrying later, or many remaining single. Although 20,000 couples still get married each year, almost half of this figure get divorced (Biuso, 2006, p. 37).

New Zealanders’ spend most of their leisure time on outdoor and most have preference towards walking and gardening. While some of them enjoy swimming, others prefer fishing as their leisure pursuits. Being an isolated country, New Zealanders consider wilderness as an essential part of their life too. Blessed with tranquil and serene nature, New Zealanders harmonious interaction with the environment has resulted in one of the cities being fifth-best city in the world. According to an international survey, Auckland offers high-quality of life and housing, a place highly for recreational and public services too such as Bungy Jumping (Up) (Biuso, 2006, p. 37).

References: Images from Google Image