Opening the door to a hidden community

The Maori people are, traditionally, a hidden and secretive tribe that still spread their living style across New Zealand. The Maori people of New Zealand arrived in New Zealand in waves from Eastern Polynesia and they are only one branch of the Polynesian tribal family that spreads across New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and The Cook Islands. The Polynesian's are an incredibly proud group of people and they will never let their traditions die out, there will always be families that have descended from tribal people and they will be proud to keep that tradition alive.

Over several centuries in isolation, the Maori people developed their own unique culture, language, a rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts. The most well known of these performing arts would be the Haka, performed by the New Zealand National rugby team before each game. The Haka was performed by the Maori before battle as a challenge to their opponents. It can also be used as welcome into the Maori community. At the recent Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the teams were all welcomed by the Maori people with their own unique Haka performance.


With the arrival of Europeans to New Zealand in the 17th century, came enormous change to the Maori people and their culture. They gradually adopted some of the aspects of Western living. In 2010, there was an estimated 660,000 Maori people in New Zealand, making up about 15% of the total population of New Zealand.


With hope, I expect that the tribal traditions will live on as it will be a sad day when the fade.

An Important Place to Me.

Seclusion and relaxation _05/10/11

A place that I find comforting anytime I visit is the garden of Dublin castle. I find that it relaxes my body and my mind and allows me to reflect on any thoughts or problems that I may have at that given time.

The garden was unknown to me until the middle of last year when I found myself in the grounds of Dublin castle while doing a college assignment. The garden was being bathed in sunshine as if it was the holy land. I took a few minutes to myself on a quiet bench but then had to get back to my work.

Any visit after that, either on my own or with company, was always special. It was always quiet, relaxing and peaceful. The sun was always shining, probably because I wouldn’t visit on a rainy day. Recently, it seems that a lot more people have also decided to use the gardens as their place of seclusion and relaxation so it’s not as easy to get a quiet seat.

Now that I’m back in college and close to the garden, I’ve tried to visit more often but found that I haven’t spent as much time there as I would of liked. With winter drawing ever closer, the sunshine will gradually die away and the garden will slip into it’s on sense of relaxation.