I don't necessarily agree (says the American born in France) -- just some of the terms used, and the mindset behind them, seem to be fairly unique to the geographical and ethnic background *of* New Zealand.

For example -- my great-grandmother was African Creole and Native American (Blackfoot.) Due to miscegenation laws, she and my grandfather had to go so far north (to Minnesota) to marry that he could pass her off as being of "Spanish" ancestry -- because then they could legally get married. And that particular set of circumstances is unique to the United States.

Yes, some English colonies had similar laws, but the background of African slavery and Native American repression/extinction/assimilation is somewhat unique to the United States. England's African colonies had different sets of circumstances, as did Indian ones (for example, the ethnic Indian population has always outnumbered the British presence there, which changes some of the dynamics.)

Let's just say that, had morbid_curious been born in the US to the same parents, there would have been no *question* of him learning Maori (or a Native American language) in school, or feeling in any way connected to the country's original population's culture. Probably the same thing regarding South Pacific traditions.

This is a really neat post -- I enjoyed reading it! (And I'm curious about the tabua thing, if you're comfortable talking about it.)

-- A <3