A good time to be Australian

[Guest]

Hi PPL's

 

Interesting thread. Maybe I can shed some light on this subject of relations amongst the Maori/Islander attitudes towards tha Abo's (PC maintains we refer to them as koori's or Murri's depending on where they are from, but Im far from PC )

 

Let me introduce myself, I am of Fijian decent, my Father Fijian, Mother Australian. I am quite fair, but have stark polynesian features, often mistaken for Maori, and to the ignorant, an Abo.

 

In a nutshell, we view the stereotypical Abo the same as that of most middle class white Australian families. Of course there are class structures in Islander/Maori races, And just like westerners birds of a feather flock together. I have visited Everly and Louis streets (Redfern)on many occasions and found alot of half caste aboriginal/islander children and to my amazment, aboriginals speaking Fijian quite fluently.(Could very well be good code for the drug runners)

This scenario is usually the result of a Fijian male (usually overstaying his tourist visa) seeking permanent residency.

 

I am looking at this more from a personal Fijian perspective, I spent several years as a child and adolescent living in Fijian villages, and from this I will say even the Indigenous Fijians Pity the [stereotypical]Australian aboriginals, they see them as a race with no self respect, no dignity, no pride. There is a universal word amongst Islanders and Maori known as "Mana" more or less meaning Pride/strength/character/self respect.This is the mindset of the islander, nothing is acheived without "Mana". We differ from the Australian Aboriginal in that we (Fijian, Tongan, Samoan, Maori) are Essentially Warrior races, The Australian Aboriginal is not.Back in the good old days in the Islands and NZ, thru the process of [Not So] Natural selection, the strong were well looked after, were the only ones allowed to reproduce, the weak (and small) were just killed, Hence The reason the biggest race of people are from the Pacific Islands. Although different island groups have different languages in their own rights, they all share a hell of a lot of similar words and cultural values.

 

Although I have only been to NZ as a child I can still tell you Racism is rampant as ever amongst these islander groups ( I have much family and friends there). (although not as bad these days), Tongans hate Samoans and vice versa (this is a long running feud from Centuries ago), Maoris hate Tongans/ Samoans,(known as coconuts) its funny but a really bad thing to call an Islander in NZ is a Coconut, can be the difference between life and death. I remember this Maori bloke I worked with once, didnt like me , kept calling me Coconut to provoke me, i was quite ignorant (not knowing this was a taunt for a fight) and was proud of being called one! BTW we never ended up fighting, eventually I realised his game and just woudnt play it his way, pissed him off even more!

Fijians do not "hate" or "fight" with other pacific nations,Although; *POP* (opening up another can of worms here)they do hate and resent the Indian population, who are seen as 'taking over'.

 

Rascism and classism is Rampant amongst Islanders as much as it is in Western Society. I was shunned, mainly by some of my ignorant (Islander) cousins ( who were also born and bred here), for being fair, but Im sure this might have something to do with the preoccupation they have with being "black" these days(and for the last 25 yrs or so), mistaking themselves as culturally monogamous with the African American Culture, very much a problem these days amongst the ignorant (brown skinned) classes.(notice I said Classes) The case however in the islands is totally different, Fijians love white ppl genuinely.As a Fair half caste I used to get pissed off as a kid in Fiji for preferential treatment based on my skin type, I was in essense the same as any other black kid there, I spoke the language fluently, did everything they did to survive etc etc I never wanted to leave to come back to Aus)

 

To conclude, I would have to say "no" Maoris do not instinctively get on with aboriginals, in the sense they do with Polynesian races. Maoris/Samoan and Tongan are Polynesian whereas Fiji is Melanesian/Polynesian. I think the Australian Abo's are more of micronesiatic decent. I [personally] instinctively get on with anyone on my level!

I also have an adopted brother of 1/2 Aussie Abo decent, do we instinctively get on? Yes we are best mates and live together.

 

As for the anecdotes on ecentric flatmates I once had a Samoan Flatmate who was a lady killer/ had girls after him 24/7. Little did they realise at home he donned a pink nightie and dressing gown every night, loved wearing womens make up around the house, and watched Elvis Movies non fuking stop! He was to my surprise not a closet homo, he is now married with kids.

 

PS. Aboriginal is only another word for "Native" or "indigenous", eg a chinese man from Beijing is a chinese abo so remember the next Thai BG you BF, you will essentially be fucking an abo.

[gobbledonk]

Interesting post, FB - not sure that I agree with everything that you've said, but I can identify with a lot of it. Racism is definitely more overt out here in regional Australia, but its clear that indigeneous people are at the very bottom of the social pecking order. It seems that even the rednecks have finally realised that Asians and other immigrants do contribute to the community - the stereotypes are slowly breaking down.

 

I've never seen any indication that Islanders and Aboriginal people share any sort of 'unspoken' bond based on skin colour or their treatment at the hands of whites, but its interesting to hear it from someone who has a unique 'insiders' view. I believe that their future lies with people like Noel Pearson - someone who is prepared to acknowledge that their problems arent going to disappear in a single generation, but remains willing to make a difference for the sake of the kids.

[Guest]

Artiew,

 

Pondering my post today, I know I made some broad generalisations, But look at the question. I was answering for the GENERAL feeling and attitude.

 

Anyway i am interested in what you would disagree with because Im sure in certain cases things are well different. I am merely giving it as I see it.

 

 

But to me a Spades a Spade, I dunno whether it came across that way.

[gobbledonk]

Anyway i am interested in what you would disagree with because Im sure in certain cases things are well different. I am merely giving it as I see it.

 

Relax, FB - I respect your perspective, and you have the advantage of having an insiders view of islander culture. As you say, yours is part of a 'warrior' people, and I always found it hard to reconcile the fact that many young islanders in Brissie could be such polite people (to adults, at least), yet completely feral when it came to young guys from rival ethnicities (Vietnamese and Aboriginals, mainly). I guess it's as as much about the youth 'tribes' as any cultural background they may share, but it always seemed very hard to visualise this 'duality' .

 

Case in point - I gave a young Samoan a lift one morning when Brissies train system had packed it in, and he was *painfully* polite - calling me 'Sir' etc - to the point where I found it difficult to get a conversation out of him. Turns out he was unhappy that his parents had moved to Brissie to 'drink and smoke' when he thought life in Samoa was so much better. He was particularly unhappy with the fact that they had turned away from the church. Just when I was thinking that I had given a Mormon a lift, the subject turned to the trains, and he told me that he regularly found himself in fights on the train. I was stunned, and asked him why that was, and he said that if someone called you out, you had to fight them - anything else was an insult to your family and your people. While thats a noble sentiment, it also seems like a great way to end up either jailed or dead.

 

My perspective is also skewed by the fact that the majority of Polynesians in Oz are Maoris, and (as you've said), they dont have a terribly high opinion of their South Pacific cousins. Basing my own views on their prejudices is undeniably tragic, but what can I say ? Unless you have regular contact with people who dont conform to a given stereotype, attitudes become entrenched.

 

Overall, I find the Islanders in my current neck of the woods to be friendly and non-violent (a complete contrast to many locals, black and white), and they seem to outnumber Kiwis up here by about 10:1, which is the first time I can remember that happening to me across four states. Must be the hot weather that scares them off ::

[Guest]

Anyway i am interested in what you would disagree with because Im sure in certain cases things are well different. I am merely giving it as I see it.

 

hehe, Sorry artie this statement may have come across as opposing your view, sorry, when I said "Im sure in certain cases things are well different", I meant for that to sound like " I am interested to hear what you think because, I could well be wrong" meaning I was just taking a personal, general point of view.

 

As for these Isalanders being extremely polite, well thats how it is in the islands, everyone is friendly and such,Its a very very Family and community oriented society, not a divide and conquer society like ours. Things go very smoothly, low crime rates etc, But hey Step out of line and you will know it. Its hard to take a PC view on discipline in the islands, but let me give you an example. Ma'afatu steals from Loni, Loni finds out, Ma'afatu gets a hiding from loni and his mates/cousins. Nothing more happens the debt has been repayed. depending on the crime If you get caught by the police in fiji, you get a hiding from them, then a hiding in jail from the inmates, and if you survive that, you serve your time as well as become everyones bitch.

So these are the deterants to civil unrest in the Islands, Its a proven system, it works.

 

As you say, in QLD there are many islanders who are non violent etc, well I am telling you that is the overwhelming majority in any society. Even the lebanese who have a really bad name in Australia, its only the rotten few (and in 99% of cases its only adolescent males) who spoil it for the rest. Its always the case to judge a certain race on the behaviour of the young males (who account for maybe 15% of the particular race, and of that 15% about 5% are the extremists).