The plane from Los Angeles to Chicago was full of Maoris from the North Island of New Zealand, who had been traveling nonstop for more than 24 hours already. They were mostly large, tattooed and cheerful. The group included some older men and women, and I stopped and asked one of them whether they were a choir. She said that they were all from a large family, going to perform a dance and ceremony at an ancestral house that now belongs to the Field Museum in Chicago. "At nine o'clock, there will be a welcome ceremony before the public enters. Why don't you come?"
The woman next to me-- she herself was half Maori and half pakeha, or non-Maori--was doing a documentary on the house for Maori television. "Of course we only get half as much money as the English channels would get to do their documentary," she said. "But at least there's a station now where Maori kids can see people who speak their language."
She explained that the whole culture of the Maoris revolves around these family houses, where huge family gatherings are held and everyone brings food. "Some people practically spend their whole lives there, and use their own homes just to sleep. So you see the house is very important to them." But she said that the family was not angry that the Field Museum had this house. It had fallen into disrepair and would have been destroyed, and the museum bought and saved it, and can afford to keep it in good repair.
I asked about the tattoos and she said that men traditionally got full-face tattoos,
and women tattooed their eyebrows, lips and chin. "It's coming back. A lot of younger women are doing them now. People have more pride in their culture than before. No one ever gave us anything," she said. "But we have our treaty; we have rights."
I thought of the American Indians and the numberless, worthless treaties they signed with the white man. What made the difference? Were the New Zealanders more decent, or the Maoris fiercer? Was the land too far away from the British Empire? Another kind of invasion is happening now. "Everyone has discovered how beautiful New Zealand is now," said my neighbor. "Foreigners are buying up the entire coast. Local people can't afford land there any more."
It was snowing and 35° F (1.6° C) when we arrived in the Windy City.
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