Customs, Traditions and Celebrations

To answer their big inquiry question of "How might cultural groups keep their customs, traditions and celebrations alive in Auckland in the future?" Group 3 compared two different cultures customs, traditions and celebrations in Auckland.

We are making a comparison between the customs, traditions and celebrations of the New Zealand European and Indian cultures in Auckland. There are many similarities and differences in these cultures for instance both cultures have their own distinct body art. In India women wear and decorate themselves temporarily with mendi or henna. However New Zealand European’s have permanent tattoos that include Maori and Celtic designs.

Another similarity between these cultures is that both have their own traditional foods. In India traditional foods include daal, roti and curries. New Zealand European traditional foods are often originally from the home countries of their ancestry these foods include fish and chips, roasted lamb and pizza.

A further similarity between these cultures is that both have their own celebrations and traditions. These celebrations are often observed away from their original birthplace wherever there is a large population of a particular cultural group. In New Zealand Indian people celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights. During Diwali they blow firecrackers and eat lovely food. It lasts five days and four nights. However NZ European celebrations include Easter, Christmas and Guy Fawkes Day, which originated in Britain.

Overall these two cultures share many similarities and differences such as celebrations, foods and body art. In the future we think the celebrations, food and body art will change because more people from different cultures may come to New Zealand and bring new traditions and celebrations that people will adopt for their own.