the essential
Joshua Marso, young New Zealander, shares his culture and the history of his country during a meeting organized by Esperanto Ariège.
Esperanto Ariège organized a conference on New Zealand last Saturday, led by Joshua Marso, a young 19-year-old New Zealander, who came to Lithuania for the young Esperantist congress. He took advantage of a few weeks in Europe to discover its cultural diversity. He arrives from Rotterdam and will be in Belgium for the end of the year. He takes the opportunity to make his country known to Esperanto practitioners as well as to the general public. In fact, the translation of the conference was provided simultaneously by a local Esperantist.
A comprehensive presentation exploring the geological history that has made this country a string of 600 islands, partly covered with forest, 25% of which is still virgin. A country populated by five times more sheep than people, with a specific biodiversity of which the Kiwi (the bird) is one of the emblems. From 1250, these islands saw the arrival of the Maori, who developed a culture and rules of life marked, among other things, by the notion of collective rather than individual property. Aotearoa is the name they gave to their territory.
Around 1650, the Dutch explored this territory without settling there. It was in the 18th century that English colonization began, led by James Cook, who gradually imposed his own rules, transforming the Maori into a minority people fighting to preserve their rights, including their language. This struggle reached a peak in 1975 with an iconic 1,100 km march from Northland to Wellington, bringing together 5,000 people and accompanied by a petition signed by 60,000 citizens, delivered to the Prime Minister. More recently, an even larger protest march mobilized opponents of a proposed law aimed at further restricting their rights.
The next Esperanto class will take place this Saturday 23rd at 2 p.m., in the Wedding Room (under the library).
