Introductory social anthropology 146.101 | Pakeha Culture | Assignment Two | | Penelope Dobbin 08311250 | 10/19/2012 |

Paper Coordinator – Prue Smart |

Pakeha Culture
By Penelope Dobbin

Pakeha or people of British descent, first settled in New Zealand during the 1800’s. Since then, Pakeha, Maori and many other ethnicities have co-existed in New Zealand society and all of the cultures that come from these ethnic backgrounds make Aotearoa what it is today. When a person is asked about Asian culture, they may think of the Japanese people wearing Kimono or the Yakuza. Indian culture typically incites thoughts of different curried dishes and Bollywood performances. Then when Maori culture is spoken about, we envision the haka, marae or legends of maui and the sun. When people are asked about Pakeha culture, they seem to pause and think. Do Pakeha have a culture? Are we talking about the culture that was brought to New Zealand from Britain or are we speaking about Pakeha that have created their own culture in New Zealand?
A lot of the time, Pakeha culture is ignored because many people believe that Pakeha people have no culture in comparison to Maori, Asian or Indian people.
The concept of culture is defined as the ……………
I interviewed two people that have lived in New Zealand all of their lives. Informant one is female, 23 years old and is of Pakeha and Maori descent. Informant two is male, 40 years old and of Chinese descent. Both informants were born