Reflective-Writing 2

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/