I guess the loss of cultural integrity is what many indigenous groups are concerned about among their youth.

There are a lot of maori and islander boys here who are well and truly wrapped up in 'gangsta' culture which is quite funny in one respect, but in another, it's incredibly sad. The Maori people have a rich heritage full of tradition and culture. It is a source of great distress to most elders I've met.

When the local American kids engage in "gangsta" culture, you may rest assured that their parents do not look at it as a preservation of their own adult culture. It's not indigenous vs. Western, it's old vs. young. Always has been, always will be.

Over here it's about the clothes and music mostly and also a way of behaviour, but it's not as violent as it seems to be in the US. It's interesting to note that most islander kids are very respectful of their parents but they compete heavily among their peers for respect and control of the group. There's not so much gang culture here although there's more of it than there was when I was young. In a lot of ways, they're little 'gangstas' without the gang if that makes any sense.

makes sense to me. they emulate the current "warrior" culture because there's really no place for their own anymore.

I never heard about the Maori in school, but National Geographic has covered them more than once, and of course TV takes us everywhere in the world and beyond.

The haka that SG mentioned, has been adopted by some US college and high school teams, much to the consternation of some parents and educators that feel it's bad sportsmanship.

Do you know "Maori?"
 

That would be Mr. Connie Chung; though, he changed the way he spells his name for show business purposes. :rolleyes:

It makes sense that people focus on knowlege that is immediately useful to them like the state of Connie Chung's marriage. My concern with a lack of background in culture and geography focuses somewhat on international businesspeople but mostly on our political class. The world just isn't that big any more. Our imperialism, being cultural, economic, and military, would seem to be much more dangerous when lead by disinterested non-readers. If our foreign policy were Radaresque, we could afford cultural illiteracy in government. Businesspeople learn culture because good relationships smooth exchanges in goods and services. A government official deals in force restrained or driven forward by the election cycle back home. With the right publicity at home, there is little in the system to put him out of business when he fails to understand the impact of his actions.

Got fed up and googled currahee.
Okay, had NO idea. But I will read now and will have.

Although I counter they're modern culture. Which (again imo) isn't as easy to pick up as something centuries old that permeates literature, art, diaries, popular fiction etc etc

I'm not saying that knowing one thing is better than another. I'm just saying that the longer something is in existence, the easier it is to get wind of it.

Amused myself yesterday watching Youtube videos of haka and poi dancing.

BTW, sure The Cellar has heard of Maori 'cause I remember talking about it when I was talking about the poi dancing.

Funnily enough we were talking about poi today at work. There's a Project Manager you can't mention poi in front of. Something to do with a lost bid to a group of poi dancers who then put on what was widely recognised as a lousy performance.

And yet despite the sensitive personalities of people who work in the arts it seems to come up every other week ;)

Has anyone ever heard of Negritos? How about a Radaresque foreign policy?

They're like Fritos, only better.

Coincidentally, Natl Geo. aired an episode of "Taboo" tonight which showed a young woman getting the traditional moko, or Maori chin tattoo. Very interesting.

A Kiwi chap told me that the movie Once Were Warriors is pretty realistic .

From my personal experience I would say it is.