Reflective Writing 2
Throughout the semester the
knowledge, practices and involvement I had towards culture and society was very
limited. Studying the series of diverse concepts and issues on culture and
society such as diversity, values and beliefs and much more that were profoundly
covered during the lectures and tutorials of this paper, has academically
broaden my knowledge weekly on these specific themes and issues into a deeper
and personal understanding in comparison to that I had already knew previously before
taking this paper.
Via communicating online through
the google+ community, and group discussions I was able to gather and
comprehend the different perspectives on of not only the lecturers but everyone
I made conversation with including my stream peers. This method of connecting
to share ideas and to also obtain information allowed me to take into
consideration the values and beliefs of others which helped me while working on
the previous assignment and writing. In general all concepts covered interest
me as each concept led to the other in similar ways. Despite this I found
myself enticed most to the themes of Human Rights and Cultural. Therefore in
this particular writing I have chosen to focus on the concepts of Respecting
Indigenous Human Rights and of Human rights.
Expressing Identity was a
theme that required students to form into groups and later present to other
groups in their class during Week 10. Consisting of five members, the fundamental
focus of our group was on “Respecting Indigenous Human Rights”. At first I thought
indigenous human rights was just like every other human rights. We also viewed problems
regarding the rights of indigenous people. During our research I found it
difficult to find a stable definition to define indigenous people but there wasn’t
really one I could relate to. According to (Netherlands Center for Indigenous
People, n.d.) the United Nations system body has never adopted a definition of
the concept of indigenous peoples. This is due to the fact that not one term of
indigenous people is necessary as a single definition will inevitably be either
over or under inclusive, making sense in some societies and not others.
Furthermore, stated further down the considerate term provided by the study of
Jose R. Martinez Cobo on the issue of discrimination contrary to indigenous population
is; Indigenous societies, individuals and countries are those which, having a
historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that industrialized
on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other segments of the
societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. Dealing with
the concept of discrimination in regards to our topic was an issue I strongly
looked at in depth. As a Samoan born New Zealand citizen researching on this
particular topic was quiet difficult as there was many issues relating to our
chosen topic. However I came to understand and respect that the indigenous
people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) are Maoris, yet the Maori people are often criticized
and derived by the pakehas for wishing to sustain their ethnic way of life and
cultural heritage. Hana O’Regan (2001, cited by Willmott-Harrop, 2006) states
that “They rubbish Maori for focusing on the past (especially the Treaty) yet
they hold tightly to and value dearly their own ‘pioneering’ heritage. Despite
many pakeha feeling good about how well Maori have been treated, racism and
negative stereotypes are alive and well in the actions of many of those
people.” This to some extent shows that discrimination is still a major issue towards
indigenous people today. It’s not just happening in New Zealand in general but
globally too.
Even with a human rights system
by the United Nations to protect indigenous people. The minority of those who
are aware of the issue know about it yet don’t tend to do anything, whereas
there are some who are not aware that they are contributing to the issue. During
Week 9 lecture we looked at popular culture. This was one of the possible
solutions which our group considered which can help to contribute in creating
awareness of respecting the human rights of indigenous people. Popular culture
can be used to give indigenous people a voice by the use of media such as the
use of bilingual language and ethic cooking shows on television, magazines and
cultural performances to show the uniqueness of the cultures.
Individually, I generally feel
that respecting the human rights of indigenous people is allowing the indigenous
people the right to their lands and what they originally own at all times. Not
only this but allowing them to their freedom and to their cultural way of life.
Ryan (2010) indicates that, Culture is the software of our lives, it is the
program we live by the rules that determine how we think and act. As a proud
Samoan my culture is a big part of who I am and the way I live today. Despite
being raised in New Zealand the Samoan way of life is what I relate myself more
to as this is what I initially identify myself as. Therefore as a native Samoan
I would want people to respect the Samoan way of life and living. Learning
another culture can be a way of showing respect for any particular indigenous culture.
Hall (1976) suggest
in his analogy of culture that; that only way to learn the internal culture of
others is to actively participate in their culture.
Secondly; Human rights is one
of the four concepts I as an individual looked at along with every other
student while developing the photo board assignment. My understanding of human
rights was very basic at the beginning and the first thing I thought of was
freedom but as we went through it in detail I learnt that human goes to a far
more extent than what I thought. There is human rights for almost everything. The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (n.d.) indicates in its pledge that of
all rights the most important is freedom.
In terms of my values and
beliefs, human rights Article 15; states that firstly everyone has the right to
a nationality and secondly no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. This in a positive
way portrays the idea that people can be proud of who they are and what
nationality they consider themselves to be without the negativity and remarks
of others. I believe that this is so true, no one should ever feel denied of
their own nationality. As a member of society I feel proud to be called a
Samoan knowing that I have the right to my own nationality.
Overall the above themes have
helped me understand that even the values and beliefs of others are not always
the same as mine and that’s OK. Not everyone is the same. Everyone has the
right to freedom. This paper has helped me gain life valued knowledge on who I am
as a person and in society and that there are different types of concepts that I
can relate to in so many ways.
Word Count: 1177
Word Count with References: 1259
References:
Hall,
E.T. (1976). Edward t. halls cultural iceberg model: beyond culture. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3i Fl6vnPEQfm5kQmNKeXZaeGdVZ3NRNEZSOEloQTNTYVA0Z2RnY1Y1d0JmSXB MmRWUGc&usp=sharing&tid=0B3i Fl6vnPEQfkJ3azRKZS1EaXpJMTVXY2dtMFBZU0RzSUoyNTlXU2VkNnNCN0J3WFBNDg
Netherlands
Centre for Indigenous People. (2010, November 1). Definition of Indigenous people. Retrieved June 12,
2015, from http://indigenouspeoples.nl/indigenouspeoples/definition-indigenous
Ryan, M. (2010). Cultural
studies: A practical introduction. New Jersey, NY: Wiley Blackwell
The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (n.d.). Article 15. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a1
Willmott-Harrop,
E. (2006). Maori and human rights in New Zealand. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from http://www.libertyandhumanity.com/themes/other themes/maori-and-human rights-in-new-zealand/
