Pieces Nearly in Place

The past few weeks have flown by. Two major holidays and the kids getting out of school for a 6-week break tends to do this. The kids got out of school about two weeks into December and the University shut down on the 18th. However, with my professor's help, I was able to submit my final PhD research plan for confirmation of enrolment with the University. I had a goal to get this accomplished well before my 6 month time window expired at the end of January. In reality, I wanted to have this accomplished by mid-November but it did not work out this way. I have received ethical approval for the research, and this was done by November. My delay was my own- I was reading more material and wanting to make sure my additions and refinements to the proposal were accurate and informed. I believe I accomplished my aim in this regard.

Before my son's school let out, they did have one last field trip, for which I volunteered to again chaperon. Several classes from the elementary school took a trip up to a nearby hill/mountain/reserve called Maungakawa or Sanitarium Hill, outside Cambridge (NZ of course). The site had in times past, especially spanning the World Wars, been a rest hospital for war-wounded and before that a sanitarium for sufferers of tuberculosis. Before this it was a family's estate, built by a wife whose husband died with dreams of a mansion unrealised.

The site is quite prevalent in the region and is forested to some degree. It now is a reserve and park with hiking/tramping trails and open picnic areas. Only an old small stone decrepit building remains to attest to its former use. The reserve now seems to be aimed at maintaining and preserving what native foliage and animal life there exists. The blood thinner poison 1080 is dropped there to control pest populations. There is no pest-proof fence there as there is at Maungatautari- and of course it it minuscule in comparison anyway so there is little to preserve relatively. However, any portion can make a difference, hence the reserve status.

The trails at Maungakawa are not metalled (gravelled) like Maungatautari, and so they are muddy and slippery. Many of us slipped a bit at times- not falling, but just loosing footing. The school kids and leaders went on a short trail/track, ate lunch and played some games there. Most of the adults sat under a large tree in a field to eat lunch and talk. As an aside, in the thank you card the school kids later gave me, they suggested that in the future, I should play the games (including Cricket) with them. Perhaps I will do just that next time. However, it is important that I get to know as many people here in Cambridge as possible. One can never have too many friends and in terms of research this also applies. A few of us had a good open conversation, talking about where we grew up, how we came to be here in NZ. From these and other conversations, new articles, and news reports, there is a fair amount of relocating back and forth between OZ (Australia) and New Zealand. One family had come to NZ from the UK- Scotland to be precise- and then moved to OZ, and then back to NZ.

December at this point is nearly over. It has come and gone. Christmas was good, with good neighbors who gave gifts to my children and invited us to lake Karapiro down the road on Christmas day, many good people we have been able to visit/carol and those who visited us. Just the other day, my supervisory professor came over to my neck of the woods and brought his family for a visit to Maungatautari. The jaunt up there came to be on a humid overcast day with no breeze. It was very uncomfortable in the morning, but later things cooled down a bit- at least on the mountain. We arrived and hiked far enough in time to see a feeding for the birds at the aviary on mountain. Rata blooms were visible from the tower and free-flying birds were easily seen, including Kaka, and stitchbirds among others. The bird calls in the forest were mesmerising and prolific. The group returned back to my home, despite a less than fun incident of my doing- as I missed the correct turn off- to a fabulous lunch graciously prepared by my wife, Amanda. We were all treated to her gourmet pizzas, salad, bruchetta, and for desert, homemade pumpkin pies and chocolate lava cakes. It was good to talk with good people and eat good food.

Well, Christmas vacation is nearly over, and back to work for me. This January I should start volunteer work on the mount and some Maori te reo and tikanga (language and custom) classes here in the community. Plus, I now have to gear up, outfit myself, and begin the real fieldwork. The pieces are nearly in place. I need to formally connect/commence with the Trust and area Hapu (subtribes) as ethical approval has been received and final full enrolment all but official, and I need to finish applications for additional funding from various sources including National Geographic. Lastly, I need to begin augmenting connections to people. All part of a happy new year!

Forward Momentum

The past few weeks have been productive and enjoyable, with a focus on brushing up on methods and ethical conduct of anthropological fieldwork. Part of this is because the last few weeks have been somewhat devoted to completing and obtaining ethical approval for my research with a certain University research ethics committee. With the guidance of my supervisor and one of the committee members, both professors, I wrote a discussion of the ways I will ethically conduct my fieldwork. Just a few days ago, I received some good feedback and met with the committee member again. We discussed three issues that were raised and all three were easily addressed. With a final information sheet for participants to be sent to the committee member, I think the ethics approval process should be completed.

The Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust has recently received a good amount of funding, that will be distributed over three year's time. In return, the Trust is contractually obligated to continue their work, specifically maintaining the pest-proof fence and keeping pests off the mountain. The promised funding has been contentious for some in the larger region. One person in particular, described as an American by the newspapers, has been critical about closed-door decision making processes concerning large amounts of taxpayer revenue. Thus, MEIT funding closed-door decisions have been a bone of contention. In a recent move, also hotly debated, the Trust's only four paid salaried staff members, including its Chief Executive, were let go. The stated goal is to move the Trust more toward what it is- a community project. I think they are hoping to get volunteers to take up the slack. The move does free up, or technically reduce operational overhead by over NZ$500,00 per year.

I am aiming to have my final proposal for the research completed soon and approved. Thus, very soon, official fieldwork can commence. In the meantime, I am enjoying my occasional trips up to the Waikato University's campus- it is quite picturesque in most spots. It has a number of small lakes around it, with plenty of gardens which include some very tall old growth native trees, I believe Pohutukawa or Kauri threes, fern gardens, and lots of native undergrowth plants, many of which are flowering varieties. I have included a picture or two of the campus, so enjoy. I hope to soon have a 'thank you' brunch out at my home, in the rear garden, for those persons who have helped me get here (at least those in NZ that is) and take my supervising professor up the Eco-Island project, as he as not yet been there. This is not an oversight on his part, nor any sign of disinterest. I would venture that he is the busiest professor in the anthro programme there. Thus, free time and breaks are not often had. A good deal of his time is spent helping students, teach, or trying to write material. One day I suppose, I will be lucky enough to be in the same predicament at some university as well.

Tomorrow I get to help out on a fieldtrip for the local elementary school. My son's class will be visiting another local environmental site of interest, and I will be driving my people-mover to take him and four of his classmates from the school to the site. This is yet again a perfect unofficial fieldwork opportunity. Calculations to live in Cambridge have come to fruition. These experiences in the past have allowed me to help the community, get to know teachers and local residents here, and talk with them. In these conversations on other fieldtrips I have helped volunteered with, I have been able gather various viewpoints local residents have concerning environmental conservation and learn of both the school's and their own contributory efforts in such projects. Perhaps on the next entry I will be able to post some pictures from this and past fieldtrip excursions. In fact, count on it. I can feel the momentum...can you?

Kia Ora. Well, work is progressing- that is things are coming together well for the commencement of official research. This past week I worked on the ethical issues consideration, a proposal of sorts that identifies ethical issues in regards to the proposed research, as it is human research. I hope to garner a full approval of it by early Nov.

While my kids were on a two week break from school- a spring break in reality, we took our recently arrived vehicle, which can fit them all, and went up onto Mount Maungatautari. We spent the better part of the afternoon, at least 3 hours hiking various trails/tracks in the southern enclosure. The dense and lush greenery of the mountain sub-tropical forest is stunning. We saw a various birds there enjoying their home, and a few new and endangered arrivals at the aviary. The kids had fun swing on the vines, just like Tarzan. These vines were thick, strong and most went all the way to the top of the tall forest canopy.

While we were eating our lunch and getting ready to go into the enclosure/bush/forest, we met two Trust volunteers who regularly check on traps or other devices there that indicate what if any unwanted critters are or might have gotten into the enclosure. We talked about the project itself and my own intentions to volunteer there and research the project. They seemed to like the idea of this.

I recently participated in a symposium, wherein graduates students presented their thesis or research in three minutes using only one PowerPoint slide. I went first- luck of the draw. The winner after a number of heats and a final and very public second presentation can win NZ$5,000 toward research costs. This could really help me out, and likely many of the other 60 participants, but I will not have a chance. Since, I went first, and we did not get a chance to get into the presentation hall early to really set things up, and since I was a little nervous at going first, and I failed to notice that my presentation/slide had not been opened up. I have been spoiled in the past at such functions when the moderator did this, and supplied a remote to advance slides with. Thus, I started talking and more than a minute into it, when I needed to show further information via an animation, I found that my slide had not been up, and thus the crowd had not seen anything yet- I ended up with some moments of dead silence in the middle of talking and time a wasting in the slim three minutes, opened it up, and continued on. It was terrible in the end- I ended up going over and not covering everything well. Oh, well, win some, lose some. I have always done well on presentations to date, so this was disappointing especially as so much was at stake- with my experience and topic, I otherwise would have really had a chance to win or win second, which is still 2500.

A Good Day on the Mountain

It has been far too long since I have updated this blog- and there a number of good reasons for this, but one primary and amusing reason for this. We have been without Internet access for a while- quite debilitating in fact. As we have been sleeping on floor futons, and as our baby daughter has not had a crib to sleep in, her midnight antics of playing around all over us and in the room resulted in a water glass being spilled over the modem. Now that access is restored, normal communication, bill paying, and of course, blogging, can resume.

Community Service and a Good Day
On the third of September, I again volunteered at my oldest daughter's school as the entire student body left for a field trip up to Maungatautari. Now, if you are unsure as to how this word is to be pronounced, then do not fret. I have heard numerous ways to say it, and most of the time, depending on who is around when I say the name, I have a 50 per cent chance of being 'corrected' albeit in a tacit manner. It seems though that more often than not I am corrected after a moment of non-recognition by the other party as to what I said. My American accent, and the quite different way some pronounce it, quite different than any Polynesian language speaker would, brings this about. When I was first here, hearing the various ways to pronounce it was amusing and I dabbled in these various pronunciations when I said the word from time to time- but I invariably came across some who still corrected me. Usually it occurs with a moment of non-recognition and then the person registers what I have said, says it in their particular fashion, and usually smile in a Cheshire-cat manner. A woman in town the other day did this and looked over at her colleague in a bemused fashion- both seemed to be having a little fun at my expense. No harm done however. I just smile back confident that there is no one right way, it is rather subjective, and if there was to be a right way it would likely come from Polynesian or Maori than not.

I digress. Yes, the field trip. The entire class body travelled to the Mountain, past Lake Karapiro and arrived at Maungatautari Marae. The student body, with its teachers and staff, and the parent helpers, were welcomed onto the Marae via a powhiri, an official welcome. After much speaking between the group's appointed speakers, the kids were educated as to area's long inhabitants and history. A portion of the older students, those who participate in the school's kapahaka performance group, performed some dances, song and chants for the Marae members, to their visible delight.

Afterwards, we were all treated to morning tea, or in other words a mid-morning snack of fruit, cakes, puddings, and some beverages in an amble eating hall. While we all were finishing up, a Marae member related more of his memories of growing up on the mountain and used a large wall-size mural he painted depicting the area in previous times to illustrate the mountain community's former configuration in relation to his stories/memories. It was within this presentation that he mentioned something quite interesting in relation to the mountain and their (as tangata whenua- people of the land or people indigenous to that particular area) use of it for cultural-orientated resources and pleasure.

Thereafter, we all went out to the open area of the marae to hear another short speech by one of the hapu's members. In this speech, or oratory, she discussed the importance of the mountain to her people, both in the past and in the present. In this context she related that it was a recent revelation that a title to the mountain now existed and that it was not in their hands but a certain district council. This will be something I will need to independently confirm and investigate. I hope to not step on any toes as I do so.

As the kids ate lunch, I did as well, though I did so while talking with a gentlemen whose brother lived in the area and was a marae member. This gentleman in fact lived in Auckland, but remained very much informed and connected to his brother and the area. We talked about the alarm and concern some in the area felt about the title and who or what seemed to possess it. Additionally, he informed me that a road was being built over the mountain by the Trust. This was a topic that sparked much discussion. The mountain/ecological island reserve does have quite a few good hiking/tramping tracks over and through its lush verdure. It seems that some seem unconvinced over the necessity of such road.

The day ended with a good walk up to the the enclosure. The hike up did not take too long, though it was slow going as it was frequented with pit stops for the kids (and some adults ;-) ) as the hike did ascend steeply. We all walked around a short track, enjoying the shade, a chance to see wetas (an indigenous cricket larger than mice and occupying the same niche) the native flora and streams. A guide from the Marae briefly related some indigenous uses of various plants, including medicine, cooking and flavouring.

I hope to have some pictures soon form this trip- as my spouse's camera is not working well, they will come from the class's communal camera. All else is going okay. We have most of our effects now. I picked them up with help from a local, who drove the manual transmission moving truck for me. Last weekend was like Christmas for my children and wife as they opened boxes of stuff they had not laid eyes on in nearly a year. Most all of it is setup in the home and we have only final few things to buy or pickup to be all set. A few items, even some crucial baby crib parts and a bike seat, remain in our vehicle that is being complied for New Zealand. What can you do? Hopefully soon we can get our hands on them when we can get our car. Bye for now.

Getting to Know Cambridge

On Thursday the 20th of August I was able to provide some community service in a manner- my oldest daughter's school class was taking a walking field trip around the town to learn more of its recent history and sites. I was already a bit under the weather, and the day was a bit cold, wet and windy, so I ended up quite sick the following day. Nonetheless, it was quite worth the effort. We walked from Leamington into town and helped the kids in groups find and complete worksheets about various topics. It ranged from the area's horse racing prowess commemorated in mosaics on the main walk, to historic buildings and the old Anglican church and its historical depictions in its stained glass windows. Lastly, the tour included the town's history museum in the old courthouse.

Along the way I was able to converse with my daughter's teacher about various topics. Knowing why we came to New Zealand, as my daughter had informed him, we discussed my research aims and questions. As a a pakeha New Zealander (that is a New Zealander with a European background as opposed to Maori Polynesian one), he was aware of and related the quandary of the Kereru bird- how they are prized for their taste, and yet are endangered. He was aware of the history behind its current status and the role of Maori tapu (sacred restriction) behind its survival up through and to pakeha mismanagement or abuse. Additionally, he related his knowledge of the Huia bird, now extinct, who's fall is attributable to the nearly insatiable demands of European fashion after centuries of more or less effective management by Maori. This is no way is to say that all of NZ's ecological troubles stem from non-indigenous people's involvement in NZ, but that in some areas, in some respects, Maori had in place a system that tried to maintain valued resources, and that he was aware of such culturally-fixed mechanisms.

His class will be visiting the Maungatautari Ecological island in early September, and he has cordially invited me to come along again. I look forward to the occasion- it has been a little over two years since I have been within the enclosure and the forested canopy. For months I have been relating to my children, especially this particular daughter, the wonder of the project and mountain (in an effort to help her get a little more okay with leaving friends and family behind to come here). I suspect it will not disappoint. To see what it is, go to www.maungatrust.org.

A Funeral, A Roadtrip, and A Home

On Thursday the 13th of August, I attended the tangi (funeral) on the marae. The service seemingly provided a pleasant and welcoming feeling for everyone. Though the service took place on the marae (sacred area connected to a particular Maori group) within the wharenui (meetinghouse) the service was very much a blend of Maori custom and the religious custom of the deceased's faith. Today an individual, who indicated that he was very familiar with the particular marae/hapu/iwi (sub-tribe/Tribe) that was hosting the service, further indicated that he was pleasantly surprised at how well the 'blending' had gone. The service had seemed so seamless to me, that I thought it was 'par for the course,' or the usual way things came together- I guess from this person's experience, this is not always the case.

In an effort to help our small congregation bolster its musical prowess, indeed, to enable my wife to practice the piano so that she will be more prepared to play when called upon (there are few who can play well enough for church services), we decided to buy some sort of piano, as we left our upright one with family in Arizona. Thus, Friday morning this week was spent in travel. I drove about 1 hour 45 minutes away to the Thames/Ngatea area to pay for and pick up an electric piano/keyboard. The scenery, though shrouded in clouds was still nonetheless picturesque. I am only now beginning to understand just how much New Zealand is engaged in the dairy business. Throughout the entire drive my eyes met with pasture-covered green rolling hills upon green rolling hills. I passed several milk processing plants along the way as well. In the colour-muted distance all I could see was green, fenced pastures, replete with thick vibrant grass- in other words, cow heaven. If you have seen the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy, recall the Hobbit shire for a sense of what much of this area looks like. My thoughts turned to David Young's book concerning New Zealand's conservation history- specifically data that indicated how much forested area New Zealand has lost for the sake of settlement and animal husbandry and its businesses. I recall that over 90 percent of New Zealand was, largely over its existence, covered in a sub-tropical rainforest. Thus, what one sees across much of the North Island is anthropogenic- that is landscapes created and shaped by humans more than anything else. The text relates that Maori cleared forest for various reasons, and that this land-clearing continued and intensified with western settlement and incursion into Aotearoa New Zealand (see Young, David, 2004, Our Island, Our Selves. Dunedin: Otago Press).

I got somewhat lost a few times while en route, but I knew at least that I was lost. Having a good sense of the cardinal directions, I knew when I seemed to not be on the right course. The online map/course guide seemed to need some improvement as it lacked a few crucial directions, such as stay right to stay on a certain highway. However, with some kind help from locals, I was given a shortcut, made up lost time, and met Jeanette, the purveyor of the piano. Money and pleasantries exchanged, I was on my way back to the Waikato area. I went straight to the University of Waikato to attend a weekly late afternoon symposium. The paper/presentation, given by a certain Professor Kingfisher from Michigan (U.S.) focused on the negotiation between neoliberal and neoconservative views by struggling single-moms in an area of Alberta, Canada, and in an area of New Zealand. It promoted good argument and discussion among those attending- very stimulating.

In all, the last few days have been quite good and productive. However, not all efforts have come about as planned. I decided to finally put together a slat-bed so that we could stop sleeping on the ground. Well, the bed we purchased was not wood- upon opening the box it turned out to be painted metal- quite different that what we thought it was going to be. I packed it back up- we will return it when we have a vehicle to do so. Hopefully, this coming week our SUV and affects will arrive at Auckland, and then we can setup our house a little more and make it feel more like a home.

Entre' ensues

Each day brings new opportunities to connect with the community. Sometimes such occasions are not entirely happy for many various reasons. Today I was introduced onto the Maungatautari marae. A fine gentleman passed away after some time of suffering a debilitating disease and medical condition. He is a member of my church- and with his passing and by way of connection with a mutual friend- I came to the marae as a friend and fellow church member to mourn with those that mourn. This week Thursday I will attend his tangi at the marae. Overall the tangi funeral ceremony is quite touching and much as been written about in NZ anthropology. Some focus has been on its tradition of the complete family gathering from all over, to stay on the marae and mourn together for days on end and the amount of food and resources expended throughout the entire tangi. The official ceremony wherein burial takes place will likely be this week Thursday and as appropriate will last as long or as short as it needs. I hope to find out more about the gentleman and what his life's accomplishments were. I do know that he and his wife did serve a temple mission to the NZ temple outside of Hamilton.

Today however was an opportunity to pay our respects. I introduced myself, telling of where I have come from, my connection to them and my overall reason for coming to NZ- to study the community in regards to their mountain ecological island project. They were quite polite and warm. After a welcome speech in Maori, they also sang to us, after which we introduced ourselves and sang a song as well. They invited us to have lunch with them- which was great- a baked egg quiche and mashed potatoes. The conversation within the wharenui (meeting house on the marae) and in the eating hall, covered a few topics, including their mountain and the project. Theirs is the hapu who lent 2/3 of the project's total land area. One very nice woman was visibly proud and exuberant concerning the project. She recalled that as a child she enjoyed the sound of kiwi birds on the mountain and she very much looks forward to hearing them there again.

The occassion serves as an entre' vehicle to a certain degree- albeit within a mixed-emotion occasion. To briefly explain, many believe in the resurrection and in a reunion with one's ancestors following death. Thus, the passing of a loved one embodies both loss and joy. My hosts- the family and extended family members (though here I suspect they make no such distinction)- extended a warm welcome to myself, a complete stranger, amidst their grief. The people, the marae, and the meal together was most enjoyable. I hope to have made many new friends and I look forward to being with them again.

It begins...well sort of.

This is the first post to begin it all. I have now been in NZ for a little more than half a month. Most of the time here thus far has been spent finding a home to rent, getting it setup for my family and I, and trying to settle into some sense of normalcy. Most of our personal effects are still on a ship on its way here, but we are doing fairly well without them. Most of all, I think we all miss having beds the most- for now we are using sleeping bags. But, others have had it far worse than this, so we really have nothing to complain about.

Coming to Aotearoa New Zealand has been a long process- but a worthwhile one. Some cultural anthropologists have taken children with them, but many have not. In the case of Lowell D. Holmes, when he went to Samoa, he took a young child- this worked well for him as being a father meant he gained a certain status within the village that afforded him more contacts and better inclusion. I hope the same holds true for myself. Three of my children are enrolled now in an area school and they are already engaged in school projects that seek to better the community's plant diversity and beautify the area. This area is of course westernized in many respects but being a father of a family may still help in my case.

Not having a car at first meant we walked all over to gather things we needed to live. I was surprised also that we as tenants would have to buy the home's major appliances. In the United States, rentals homes come fully setup- so we were just surprised, that all. It meant we had to spend more than what we planned on, but it is all good. We had a great deal of help, starting with our realtor, and many others who helped us get things done and who went far out of their way to do this.

I recall a Neopoleon Chagnon video wherein the locals always came to his hut to take or ask for something of his. He was either fending them off or trying to make some sort of trade for it. Sometimes things just disappeared. No one ever likes their stuff disappearing- but it does happen. My wife left our baby's stroller outside on the patio... and it of course has disappeared. It worked with our baby's carseat so its loss means we need to find a way to get something else that will work.

Neighbors have been very kind. Some have helped us figure out the trash and recycling system here. Others brought by couches, recliners, chairs, a table and even a TV! Thus, we made some new friends and were finally able to sit down! We all missed sitting! We are well enough off and enjoying our new home and community in Cambridge.