CULTURAL LEARNING THROUGH POETRY AND PLAY: MĀORI 
Matthew R. Centner 2020 
 
  
1 
 
Table of Contents 
Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................2 
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................2 
The Game ........................................................................................................................................4 
Thought Process .............................................................................................................................6 
The Words ......................................................................................................................................8 
Relation to Anthropology ............................................................................................................34 
Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
2 
 
ABSTRACT 
The field of Anthropology discusses many topics and climates unique to the human condition. 
Because of the lack of information and exposure available to students in high or secondary 
schools, Anthropological discussions and fields are not properly available to the public before 
deciding to enroll in further education. This project is one of cultural exposure, designed to 
appeal to students before choosing a career path to further their options as global individuals. To 
do this, elements of linguistic and cultural anthropology, expressed through poetry and word 
play, are used to provide a new way of looking at culture via a connection, a bridge, that the 
student is more than likely familiar with. This activity works to incorporate anthropological ideas 
and fields into a game to draw attention to anthropology and culture. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
The inspiration for my project comes from many different, and some distinct sources. The three 
primary contributors toward the Cultural Crossword are experiences with poetry, language, and 
my study abroad that occurred throughout my college experience at the University of Wyoming. 
My experience with poetry was very slim before entering into the Honors program at the 
University of Wyoming. Prior, I had written what some people would call a book for a contest in 
the second grade. As I continued to progress through the Honors system, poetry was a common 
and reoccurring theme for classical and theoretical writings. I started writing poetry my 
sophomore year for some underlying psychological reason, no doubt, but I wrote it because I 
liked to rhyme words that popped into my head. One of these words, eerie, turned into a poem 
about a woman who lost her husband to a storm on Lake Eire. Other wordplays of more classical 
3 
 
origin or meaning, such as associations of fire with passion and destruction also worked to fill a 
little notebook, or a collection of notes on my phone; whichever was handier at the time. These 
little poems helped to inspire me to create the poetry aspect of the Cultural Crossword I’ve 
worked so hard to complete. 
Language has often fascinated me. Recently, I am envious of polyglots and their amazing 
learning capacities for linguistic patterns. Linguistic anthropology is one of the more untouched 
fields of my discipline, in that very few individuals decide linguistics over culture or 
archaeology. It is in this way; I am slightly more interested and admirable of the branch. Dr. 
Pamela Innes, a linguistic anthropologist, offered a course called Language in Association with 
Humor and Games when I was a second semester junior at the university, which delved into the 
fascinating aspects of wordplay interlingually and within a single language, and how each 
language, with no exceptions, has wordplay based around breaking the patterns or rules of 
speech. It is in this course where I learned about cryptic crosswords, and the amazing flexibility 
of the English language to accomplish goals to discover more about the language. Unfortunately, 
an in-depth understanding of the mother language of the game is needed to solve the clues; and it 
is for this reason that the Cryptic Crossword is a type of hybrid between English and Māori, 
using Māori pronunciations and spellings, but with the rules of English speech and writing. 
Perhaps the largest influence on the project was my study abroad to New Zealand in from July to 
November in 2018. I knew I wanted to leave my comfort zone with an approach of something 
outside of my anthropological focus, bioarchaeology, and I chose linguistics due to the 
mentioned reasons. I thought: what else was an escape from my comfort zone in my past? And I 
decided that a five-month excursion on the other side of the world was as good as it would get. 
The study abroad helped me to decide that language was indeed the topic for my thesis, and that 
4 
 
the language of focus would be the Māori. While I was in New Zealand, I didn’t have much 
contact or interaction with the cultural group itself; but, I frequently heard, read and discovered 
much about their language, since each piece of writing is in English with a close following of a 
Māori translation. I picked up on several pieces of the language through day to day 
communications with my professors at Victoria University of Wellington, and locals amongst 
other sources. The experience in New Zealand helped me to focus on the Māori language for my 
thesis project. 
I hope to accomplish three main goals with the creation of this project: I want to 1) Introduce the 
culture of the Māori to the people, and specifically the youth of Wyoming. Doing this would 
develop a respect and trustworthy nature within students of other nations in an ever-globalizing 
society of the future. 2) Introduce the aspects of Anthropology to the youth of Wyoming. The 
Cultural Crossword would plant seeds of learning and appreciation of culture and language 
outside of their own and work to create an interest in populations in the distant state of 
Wyoming. And 3) I want the crossword to act as a new form of learning, by taking steps to 
introduce cultures that the people of Wyoming are not familiar with, yet, not extremely distant 
from. The cultural crossword works as a bridge between understandings in which anyone can 
reside at any location in between. By accomplishing these three goals, the Cultural Crossword: 
Māori will be a success. 
THE GAME 
The Cultural Crossword, as I have been calling it, is made of three distinct parts: the cryptic 
clues, the word definition, and the poems. In addition to these, a word box with the complete list 
of words for both puzzles and the puzzles themselves are provided. Each of these three parts are 
designed to create a way to discover the Māori word in order to fill in the associated letter boxes 
5 
 
on the grids. Each word is assigned a clue, definition, and a poem to aid in solving the 
crossword. 
Although the solver can start with whichever aspect of the game, what I would call the first part 
of the game and where I would start are with the cryptic clues. These are based on wordplay 
elements of cryptic crossword puzzles. They are made up of two parts, the wordplay, and a hint 
at how many words, and the number of letters in each word such as: A water source for the 
second part of this famous Scottish lake (8). This clue uses different parts of word play such as: 
substitution, homophones, and words with similar sounds but different meanings. The answer in 
this case, is wellness. The first part of the clue hints toward the first part of the word “A water 
source” could mean anything from a creek, to a swimming pool, however, it is the second part of 
the clue that helps determine the remainder of the clue word, wellness. “The second part of the 
famous Scottish lake” would hopefully steer the solver toward the direction of the Loch Ness in 
Scotland, where “the second part” refers to the second word in the phrase. This leaves the solver 
with -ness as a suffix to their prefix well- to combine into wellness, thus solving the puzzle. 
If the solver is unable to solve the cryptic clue, which may be more difficult since the solver, 
most likely unfamiliar with Māori language, will be solving the clues to come to solve for Māori 
words, a definition of the word is also provided. This may aid in the solving of the puzzle as 
well. These definitions also help to deliver some cultural education in the form of simple word 
translation. 
The poems were created as a final piece to solve the puzzle. Each word has a poem associated. 
These poems are meant to educate and assist in solving the Cultural Crossword. Again, for 
example the word wellness and the associated poem: 
6 
 
Wellness 
A holistic view the Māori possess, 
A balance between to feel your best, 
Surroundings and family, friendships, and person, 
If one is thrown off, your health will surely worsen. 
 
This poem is based on the word wellness, and its definition and significance in Māori culture. 
The goal was to include just enough in each part to deliver some sort of hint for the clue word. In 
this case, the word “health” within the poem should aid in solving the cryptic clue’s first part “A 
water source”, because if someone is healthy, they are well. 
I thought that the use of these three elements, the cryptic crossword, and the poems specifically, 
would create a good cultural introduction in the ways that it is a creative and engaging process in 
completing the puzzle. The solver would need to think well outside of the box to come to the 
right conclusion to solve for the word. As this game is focused on children and education, the use 
of multiple hints helps to target each of the child’s possible strengths within the English 
language. The game is meant for older kids, middle or high school, since a well-developed 
understanding of the English language is needed to complete the Cultural Crossword. In 
addition, the game can be done in pairs, or even teams with a reward to the most complete solver 
or team of solvers to incentivize cooperation and accuracy within peer groups. In addition to the 
creative and engaging aspects of the game, it works as an introduction to Māori and 
anthropology both, allowing students to ask questions about culture, language, and provides an 
opportunity of exposure to each. 
THOUGHT PROCESS 
In this section, I would like to explain the thoughts and difficulties I had with completing the 
project including the selection of the words I used, an in-depth analysis of both the cryptic clues 
and the poems, and difficulties I came across with these parts. 
7 
 
The first step to creating the Cultural Crossword was choosing clue words to be filled into the 
puzzle outline. While choosing the words, I wanted to include words of significant cultural 
significance that were challenging, yet understandable enough. The words I used needed to fit 
the puzzle as well, which was not as difficult, since I chose the words before I made the puzzles 
themselves. I wanted to use words of Māori origin, but I used a few that were significant, I 
thought, that were in English- like Wellness, James Cook, and Waitangi Treaty. In the following 
sections, I will go over the reasoning of why I chose each word. As a challenge, I do not speak 
Māori. This led me to searching my notes in previous courses I had taken in New Zealand and 
scouring my memories for concepts of Māori tradition that were significant, yet translatable. I 
used a few online sources to recall specifics if my notes were incomplete or unclear after a year 
had passed since taking them.  
Deciding the number of words to use in the crossword was also a challenge. Under the 
assumption that I would have an hour to present the entire puzzle presented difficulty in selecting 
the number of clue words. I settled on 24 clue words, with two different puzzles each containing 
22 words. I had originally created a list of 30 words, but I shortened it down to 24 based on the 
time it would take to solve (significantly less for 22 words in a puzzle than 30) and the ease of 
fitting the words into the poems, puzzle, or cryptic clues. One of the puzzles contained the clue 
words “James Cook” and “New Zealand”, while the other did not. The other puzzle used “Poi” 
and “Tā Moko” instead. This led to creating two different puzzles that could be completed in 
unison with differences within this hour-long presentation period. 
Making the puzzle too hard came across my mind often. I wanted the puzzle to be fully 
completable in an hour period. The challenges I would imagine people having while solving 
would be an unfamiliarity with Māori or cryptic crosswords, or confusion with too many parts 
8 
 
aiding to complete the puzzle. Since the puzzle has the poem, the cryptic clue (including the 
number of words and letters per word), the word box, the word’s definition, and the puzzle itself 
to aide in solving, I figured there may be confusion for the solver on what their task is exactly. 
However, with insignificant aides, the puzzle is unsolvable. A quick explanation would help the 
solver to understand their task and ease the initial confusion upon receiving multiple pages of 
paper.  
Too many pages of paper also present a problem. The organization of two front and back pages 
is just manageable, but to do this, you could only fit the word box, a puzzle, the cryptic clues, 
and the words with definitions. To solve for this, I had created a presentation with each poem on 
a slide that would be read aloud by myself as another form of aide in solving. This presentation 
would also help along the process of solving the puzzle, creating a timeline for solving for a clue 
word. This timeline helps move the group along at the same pace, creating for a more uniform 
experience. 
THE WORDS 
The next step I took in creating the Cultural Crossword was writing the cryptic clues and poems. 
I have decided to include a full list of each word I used in the puzzles, all 24, in a format as 
follows:  
• Listing the word 
• Providing an in-depth examination of each word’s cultural significance 
• The cryptic clue and an examination of the cryptic clue 
• Associated challenges 
• The poem and an examination of the poem  
• Associated challenges 
9 
 
Note, the order of the words is the order in which I would have orated from the presentation. 
Also, each clue would NOT contain the clue word itself, only the number of letters in each word 
and the number of words such as (6, 3)- (first word with 6 letters, second word with 3 letters). 
 
Starting with the first word I decided to use: Wellness. I chose to use wellness as the 
cultural significance of the word is very interesting to me. It is my understanding that the Māori 
use a holistic model for wellness that considers the mental, physical, familial, along with other 
models of health. These factors all contribute toward an individual’s wellness, meaning that if 
one of their models of health, say their relationship with their partner, is suffering, then that 
individual is unwell. The clue reads: 
Wellness (8): A water source for the second part of this famous Scottish Lake. 
I usually like to break the clue words into two parts, in this case, well and ness. The first part of 
the clue (A water source) corresponds with the first part of the word (well). I then state that the 
second part of the clue is also the second part of the phrase “Loch Ness”, a famous Scottish 
Lake. Upon combining the two parts to create wellness. Wellness was a great word to start the 
project with since it is an English word made up of two distinguishable parts. The creativity and 
challenge came with deciding what to use for the cryptic clue. “Well” was a given, but I could 
have led the solver along the way of the noun, which I did, or the adverb and well, I did not. I 
thought many times of including a portion of the description of the word, health and prosperity, 
into the clue, and decided against it and used the definition of the word as a separate portion 
instead. The poem reads: 
Wellness 
A holistic view the Māori possess, 
A balance between to feel your best, 
10 
 
Surroundings and family, friendships and person, 
If one is thrown off, your health will surely worsen. 
 
Deciding on what kind of poem I wanted to use, if I wanted to use a rhyme scheme or not for 
each of them, taking into account syllabic elements of the poems all seemed interesting and all, 
but in the end I decided on just writing what I wanted to create. The wellness poem includes an 
AABB rhyme scheme with each A line containing what sounds like the same number of 
syllables when orated and the same for the B line. The poem itself is relatively comprehensible, 
as it is not its job to be cryptic. The idea was to use the poem in adjunction with the definition of 
the word to help solve the cryptic clue if needed. The poem also conducts cultural meaning and 
significance to the solver, giving a brief explanation of what wellness is in Māori tradition. This 
is where complications stemmed. To get a poem to rhyme and convey a specific message creates 
issues with what words you can rhyme with, in addition to structure. With poetry, the structure of 
a poem is quite diverse, but must still follow the rules of English in order to make sense. With 
“Wellness” specifically, I had little issue organizing and rhyming the poem as I did. 
 The next word I chose to work on was Kia Ora. Kia Ora, pronounced key-or-uh, is a 
traditional greeting or expression in Māori. As Kia Ora is a very versatile expression, I thought it 
would be a valuable addition to a known list of Māori vocabulary for the solvers if they wanted 
to use it beyond the exercise. The clue reads: 
Kia Ora (3, 3): A hamster’s favorite car or a last three letters. 
For this clue, I figured I would use the mascot for the Kia car company- the hamster. Fitting into 
a translative theme of English, or specifically American English and culture, I figured the 
popular Kia car company commercials would come to mind when solving this clue. The second 
part of the clue, pertaining to the second part of the clue word, is a very explicit “or a” last three 
11 
 
letters. The “last three letters” points to the second part of the phrase, and to the last three letters 
read in the clue before the letters phrase. The poem reads: 
Kia Ora 
We say: hello! Or Hi! 
When we pass by. 
The Māori say “Hi” with this phrase, 
when they pass by, to brighten your days. 
 
The first line of the phrase indicates the casual greeting Kia Ora possesses, as does the second. 
The third is a more explicit definition of the word and the fourth introduces just what saying 
hello to someone can do, and that the Māori are a friendly people. Like Wellness, the poem has 
an AABB pattern, rhyming “hi” with “by” and “phrase” with “days”. A dissimilarity is the more 
staccato sound the poem has when read aloud. This is due to the lack of syllabic uniformity 
between the rhyming lines, creating this rhythm. This poem works well with the definition of the 
phrase, aiding in the solving of the cultural crossword. To create the poem was to first think of 
the meaning behind the phrase, and the rest worked its way out. In this case, I worked from an 
American cultural perspective of what someone would do when they see someone they know and 
went on from that point. 
The word following Kia Ora is Koha. Koha is a type of gift or offering as a sign of 
respect or admiration. As the Māori are a friendly, respectable people, I thought Koha would be a 
good word to help introduce solvers to their tradition. The clue reads: 
Koha (4): A vowel exclamation set in ore, without ease, in Japanese. 
This clue is a challenging one. The first part “A vowel exclamation” refers to the sound “oh”, as 
it is both a vowel and an exclamation. “set in ore” indicates that the solver should put this “oh” 
into the middle of the word ore, but not just ore. “without ease” could mean difficultly or in a 
12 
 
cryptic crossword, without the letter e. This reduces “ore” to “or” and finally, in Japanese means 
the final “or” must be translated to Japanese, ka, before “oh” is moved into the middle of the 
word- ending with “Koha”. I really enjoy this clue because of its cryptic, multi-step solving. This 
is one that may not be solvable because a solver may not know Japanese, but this doesn’t provide 
much of a hurdle as nearly everyone has a translator in their pocket. The poem is not nearly as 
cryptic: 
Koha 
On Christmas we give these to family and friend, 
Exchanging of gifts to folks ‘round the bend, 
A neighbor or pal, coworker to boot, 
Spread some joy and distribute the loot! 
 
A very simple, indicative poem that relates well with the given definition. The first line starts in 
a well-known American practice. The second through fourth lines continue the theme of gift 
giving. Koha has an AABB rhyme scheme as well, rhyming “friend” with “bend” and “boot with 
“loot”. The poem has a good flow, containing 12, 10, 10, and 10 syllables in respective lines 
from one to four. The matching syllables in lines two through four helps the poem to flow, 
despite the break from the comma in the middle of the third line. 
 The word I decided to add to the list after Koha was the very well-known Haka. The 
Haka is a traditional Māori war dance, used to intimidate or welcome visitors. Today, the Haka is 
used to commemorate special events such as, sporting events, funerals, and weddings. The clue 
reads as: 
Haka (4): The first of honor, also known as a dance. 
The clue is relatively simple. “The first of honor” refers to the first letter in the word “honor”, 
resulting in the letter h. The rest of the clue acts as the remainder of the word, and a hint toward 
13 
 
the word itself. “also known as” could be re-written as AKA, resulting in haka, and dance refers 
to the definition of the word or the poem. I wanted to use a word that started with the letter h and 
that was significant to the haka- I thought honor was a good word. I didn’t come up with honor 
first; upon looking at the word’s spelling I saw the aka, and I thought immediately of “also 
known as”, which in itself works really well as a double clue, referring to “also known as” as 
something needing replacing with itself. As the only letter left, I needed an indication to the first 
letter of the clue word, which came as “the first of”. The poem reads: 
Haka 
An emotional tradition for different occasions 
A display of power to fight off invasions 
With bulging eyes and a protruding tongue, 
This dance is preformed to say: We’ve won! 
 
This poem is heavy on the cultural aspects, and not so much as the hints, as I thought the Haka 
would be a more well-known aspect of Māori culture. The only hint, really, is in the last line 
saying that the clue word is a dance. The rest hopefully is new information for the solver. 
Another descending syllabic pattern arises with 15, 13, 10, and 10 syllables per line, which 
follows another AABB pattern. The AABB pattern rhymes “occasions” with “invasions” and 
“tongue” with a slant rhyme of “won”. I really enjoyed writing this poem, as it reminded me very 
much of my time I spent studying in New Zealand. 
 The next word I chose was Waka. A waka is a traditional canoe used by the Māori. I 
decided on waka because I had an experience with a waka in New Zealand. I was able to ride in 
one as an ambassadorial event, along with a dinner. We were introduced to the cultural 
guidelines and customs associated with the waka, and the chants in that Māori use in order to 
maintain a rhythm for moving along the water. The clue I came up with reads as: 
14 
 
Waka (4): Take wake, but fill the ease with a, letter. 
“Take wake” indicates that the word the solver needs to start with is “wake”. The solver then 
continues with the clue “but fill the ease with a, letter” indicating to replace the e in wake with an 
a, to come to waka. I thought that wake was a good starting word, since a canoe leaves wakes in 
the water, and, it was very similar to waka. The rest is a simple replacement to find the solution. 
The poem provides a bit more depth and description of the process behind the waka: 
Waka 
Take to the seas and feel the breeze, 
The Māori came to New Zealand in these. 
A tribe at the ready, crew armed with a paddle, 
The caller gives direction up front from the saddle. 
New information about the Māori comes from each line from the description of the waka. The 
first line helps distinguish where the solver should start, on the ocean or in the water. The second 
line indicates an interesting fact about the waka, suggesting a method of travel. The last lines 
give a sense of what to expect in a waka: the gang of companions paddling away following the 
commands of the caller at the front of the waka with the instructional, rhythmic chants. The 
poem follows an AABB pattern, rhyming “breeze” with “these” and “paddle” with “saddle”. The 
poem flows well, but not the best. Depending on how the solver pronounces feel in the first line- 
with one or two syllables. 
 Waitangi Treaty comes next. I wanted to include a bit of interpersonal history between 
the Europeans and the Māori- since the theme of the cultural crossword is the same thing on a 
different scale. The Waitangi Treaty is essentially an agreement of peace and cohabitation 
between the Europeans and the Māori. The clue reads: 
Waitangi Treaty (8, 6): A tangi treat between different whys. 
15 
 
I really enjoy this clue. The Waitangi Treaty clue relies on homophonic sound with “Why”. The 
solver uses the phrase “tangi treat” as the base, surrounding it (indicated by “between”) with 
different spellings of the sound why. It took a long time to think of a clue for this word. I wanted 
to use some sort of effect like I had with the very complicated koha clue, but I didn’t know how. 
Until I had tried to use “itangi” with “a tang between eyes” or some sort of play with the “treat” 
in “treaty”, and I wanted to use “Wait” as a stem for a while until I noticed “tangi treat” in the 
middle. The poem reads: 
Waitangi Treaty 
The history of New Zealand isn’t too pretty, 
So, in 1840, they signed this treaty. 
It took quite a while with many fights 
But in the end, the Māori got rights. 
 
As I previously stated, I wanted to use an historical aspect of New Zealand for the next clue, as 
illustrated by the first line. This was a more difficult poem for me to write. I had to take 
something negative and make it suddenly positive. As an anthropology student, we deal with 
colonialism quite a bit, but I think that New Zealand is the most effective example of 
cohabitation between native and colonialist parties on Earth. With most colonialist expansions, 
there are conflicts, suggested by the second and third lines. The fourth, results in a victory for 
culture and humans alike, in that equality was achieved. Another AABB scheme is present in 
Waitangi Treaty. This is formed by the rhymes present with “pretty” and the slant rhyme of 
“treaty” in the first and second lines, and the rhyme “fights” with “rights” in the third and fourth 
lines. There is no syllabic pattern, yet the poem still sounds good orated. I think this is due to the 
pauses in the second and fourth lines. 
16 
 
 Pōwhiri is the word I decided to use next in the Cultural Crossword. Pōwhiri is a very 
intimate ritual of welcoming and acceptance. The tradition has two members of different groups, 
a political leader with another, a head of house with a guest, etc. They take the other’s right hand 
in a handshake, place their own left hand on the other’s shoulder, touch forehead to forehead and 
nose to nose, and inhale the same air in the same breath. This practice is used to welcome 
someone into someone else’s space, in a statement showing that they are able to breath the same 
air together without conflict. The clue reads: 
Pōwhiri (7): Comical exclamation here with eyes. 
The clue uses another substitution and sequence, using “comical exclamation” as the first part of 
the word “Pow” and “here with eyes” as the second. The substitution comes into play with 
replacement of the Es in the word “here” to the letter Is. This clue is relatively simple. The poem 
reads: 
Pōwhiri 
To breath the air,  
To share the space, 
This welcoming 
Is face to face. 
 
A lot of culture comes from this poem, describing the process and results of Pōwhiri. The poem 
has an ABCB rhyme scheme, rhyming the second line with the fourth through “space” and 
“face”. This scheme breaks the poem into two, more distinct parts than an AABB scheme. Line 
one and two both have 5 syllables, and three and four have 4 syllables, which also helps 
distinguish each mention in the two parts of the poem. I did not have much difficulty writing this 
poem, even though the rhyme scheme is different than the past poems. Rhyming in poetry does 
not necessarily need to be consistent, that’s why so many styles of poetry exist- take a haiku and 
17 
 
iambic pentameter: neither need to rhyme to convey the meaning and instead use syllabic 
elements to enforce different emotions. The next word I used also has a unique rhyming scheme. 
 That word is Pukana. The pukana is an expression as unique as the person displaying it. 
Typically, the pukana consists of a rigid, protruding tongue and eyes wide with ambition. The 
pukana is also frequently used as a part of the haka to help intimidate. The clue for pukana is: 
Pukana (6): The bottom of a banana following a hockey tool nigh the seas. 
This clue uses a few tricks: indicators like “bottom” and “following” indicate to use the back half 
of the word “banana” behind the other part of the clue. “A hockey tool” could refer to many 
things, but in this case, it specifically refers to the puck, and “nigh the seas” indicates that puck 
should have the Cs removed. This in addition to the rest of the clue leads to the clue word, 
pukana. Again, little difficulty came from this clue. I had a few options available, like using 
“puke without ease” or a play on the homophonic sound of the “cana” in Canada for the back 
half of pukana. Another clue could have been: Expressively smelly, Canada! Too bad your father 
left the seas for Kay. I wanted the poem to be as abrasive as the pukana itself: 
Pukana 
Big bulging eyes, 
Protruding tongue, 
A face of fear, 
Adorned by some 
The poem is very staccato and abrasive- just like the pukana. Rhyming is nearly present in the 
poem with an almost slant rhyme with lines two and four: tongue and some, but I do not think 
that there is a scheme present. Each line has four syllables, which creates a sort of uniformity 
that one may see in the haka as each part works together to convey a whole’s message. Because 
there is no rhyming, the poem was easier to write. This said, I still had difficulty coming up with 
18 
 
the conveying of the meaning. There is a bit of muddy understanding in the third line. I wanted it 
to convey that the people’s pukana were to be closely related to being frightening- much like a 
president is the face of the country, the pukana is the face of the feeling of fear. The confusion 
comes in when a second perspective comes into the poem, and the face of fear is displayed on 
the spectator’s faces instead, who would be exhibiting fear from the haka or pukana combination. 
I hoped that the fourth line would clarify my meaning in the third with the word “some”. Not all 
pukana are meant to be scary as context is important. My first time seeing a pukana I couldn’t 
help but laugh, and the Māori laughed along with me- the pukana is meant to be fun as well, as 
the meaning has shifted over time. 
 Rugby was the next word for the Cultural Crossword. Rugby is a large part of Māori and 
Kiwi culture, and I absolutely had to include it in the Cultural Crossword. Rugby is also a large 
face of the nation, which is well known by many Americans as well. This sport culture has given 
the Maori culture major international recognition and pride. Haka is performed at the opening of 
games. I was hoping that rugby would be a word that would help along the puzzle as it was 
completed- due to the well-known nature of the sport. The clue reads: 
Rugby (5): A floor decoration next to a preposition 
Quite the simple clue, and when paired with the poem, it cannot be mistaken for anything else. 
Another sequential clue indicated by “next”. “A floor decoration” could be anything, depending 
on the solver’s lifestyle and the “preposition” refers to the back half, the “by” in rugby. I wanted 
to do something with this clue that would make it more difficult to solve, perhaps an anagram, 
but I decided to let this clue be an easy one so that solvers would have somewhere to start. The 
most apparent anagram of rugby is “grubby”, minus one of the Bs. The poem is just as simple: 
19 
 
Rugby 
A game like American football, without any pads 
Gather a group of 15 of the lads. 
You need to be tough to play this sport, 
As leaving the field is the last resort. 
I figured that the poem and the clue would both be easy to solve. The first line gives the entire 
clue word away. The poem seems playful to me, like rugby should be, but the words suggest a 
type of fight since rugby is such a contact heavy sport. The poem has an AABB rhyme scheme 
rhyming “pads” with “lads” and “sport” with “resort”. The most difficult part was coming up a 
rhyme with sport. I tried many words in its place and in place of “resort” but I finally came to the 
conclusion of the two -ort words. Not much culture comes across in the poem, as it’s an 
introductory word to the cultural crossword. 
 My next word was Polynesia. I chose this word because of the Māori belonging to the 
Polynesian groups of the Pacific. I thought it would be good to include a bit of heritage and 
togetherness from the lineage that the Pacific Islanders share. The clue reads as: 
Polynesia (9): Many mixes “inseam” without ‘em. 
Upon writing this, the clue was “Many nesia’s”, and it was abhorrent, thus I changed it. Many 
refers to “poly”, the Latin root meaning many. “’inseam’ without ‘em” refers to the word 
“inseam” without the letter M, leaving “insea”, which is an anagram of the back half of 
Polynesia. The combination of these parts results in the clue word. I had no difficulty whatsoever 
with the original clue, and minor difficulty with the clue as it is now. The hardest part was 
finding an anagram that I could use in collaboration with other cryptic methods, as the letters 
“INSEA” do not necessarily create a useable, one-word anagram. Inseam worked well with the 
subtractive aspect, and it was the first word that came to mind. 
20 
 
 The next word contains a bit of history as well, Moa. The moa is an extinct, flightless 
bird indigenous to the islands of New Zealand, much like the cassowary or emu of similar 
regions in the South Pacific. I wanted to include moa more than kiwi because the moa is more 
closely related to archaeology, as it is extinct. The kiwi, with its undeniable cultural significance 
seems to reinforce something already present within this project, whereas the Moa helps to more 
closely relate the project to Anthropology as a holistic field through archaeology. The clue is as 
follows: 
Moa (3): The first of Mao Zedong’s switch ups. 
The clue plays with an anagram of the first word of the phrase “Mao Zedong”. This is indicated 
by the indicative words “first” and “switch ups”. “first” refers to the first word in “Mao Zedong”, 
being “Mao” and “switch ups” refers to the mixing of letters to conclude moa, the clue word. 
One of the easier clues to come up with. I could have taken multiple approaches with this clue, as 
moa consists of very versatile few letters. Moat came to mind, with a subtraction of the T, but as 
I had not used too many anagrams, while I like to mix up the different methods of encrypting the 
clues to get an even distribution of methods. The poem reads: 
Moa 
A giant bird that once roamed the land 
The Māori arrived and killed more than they planned 
It soon went extinct, nowhere to be found, 
Aside from the bones, buried deep underground. 
This poem delves into the history behind the moa bird. At the same time, it works to emphasize 
the importance of the moa in early Māori history. It follows an AABB rhyme scheme, which 
rhymes “land” with “planned” and “found” with “underground”. There is no sense of syllabic 
unity in the lines, each containing different amounts in each line. I enjoy this poem as it relates 
21 
 
more to my focus in anthropology- bioarchaeology. Although it does not constitute human 
remains, which bioarchaeology entails, the archaeologic aspect of the piece fits within the 
holistic field of anthropology. Again, not a difficult write. With this poem, I wrote the first line 
and worked from there as chronologically as I could, a sort of step by step process of elimination 
of the moa birds of New Zealand.  
 My next choice was Tangata. The direct translation of tangata from Māori to English is 
“the people”. I had to include tangata, since the project would be nothing without the Māori. To 
me, tangta takes a holistic view of the Māori, bundling them into one word of everything they 
mean and stand for. The clue reads: 
Tangata (7): Tang said “Ata boy! No evens here!” 
The clue is a bit more confusing that some of the others. The determining factor within is the 
“No evens here” phrase. This phrase indicates that within the rest of the clue, the words 
corresponding to the even numbers in the clue should not be used to solve for the clue word. For 
instance, “Tang” is the first word in the clue, “said” is the second and so on. With this 
information, “Tang” and “ata” become the remaining parts of the clue, distinguishing the clue 
word Tangata. After a bit of out of the box thinking, the clue was formed. I was stuck on creating 
this clue for a while, as I could not think of what to use the latter half, “ata” for. Tang could have 
referred to the fish, a specific flavor, or even the trademarked beverage. I don’t really like the 
clue very much, but its out of the box thinking leads me to keep it as is. The poem is one of my 
favorites, though, and reads: 
Tangata 
A word of the people made for them too, 
This word means both me and you. 
It isn’t just us, that much you will see, 
22 
 
This word means us, and people to be. 
This poem makes me feel included in the Māori tradition and culture. I tried to write it from the 
perspective of a united front of East and West, encapsulating the meaning of the word to the 
fullest. The largest hint is within the first line, explicitly giving the definition again for the 
puzzle. Tangata refers to the people of the present, past and future alike, explaining the third last 
line of the poem, while the second line helps with the definition. It has an AABB rhyme scheme 
which rhymes “too” with “you”, and “see” with “be”. The first and third lines each have 10 
syllables, creating a slight pattern of starting an idea with the same number of syllables, although 
this is unintentional.  
 Following tangata is Whenua. Whenua refers to the land, not as specific as New 
Zealand, but in reference to the land and nature associated. This word is similar to tangata in the 
way that it holds a more respectful aura than just that declared by the word and its definition. The 
clue reads: 
Whenua (7) When you… uh… 
The clue plays with the homophonic elements between the pronunciation of whenua, and “when 
you, uh”. This is another clue that, due to the simplicity, would help get the solvers started with 
the cryptic elements of the puzzle, and it is intended that they use the word box in adjunction 
with the clue to solve it. The poem reads: 
Whenua 
There are many types: stone, beach, and sand, 
But each of the parts make up the land 
It’s different from the sea, that much is clear, 
We swim for this place when the sharks grow near. 
23 
 
This poem is meant to hint toward the definition of the word, as seen in the explicit use of land in 
the second line. Each line helps provide a guide to the theme of land as well. The rhyme scheme 
of the poem follows an AABB pattern, with “sand” rhyming with “land”, and “clear” with 
“near”. Furthermore, there is no syllabic pattern associated with the poem. I thought this word 
would be important since land in most Polynesian cultures holds a unique respect, as many of 
them are spread between land and sea, as per usual with cultures of the South Pacific. This poem 
was not challenging to write; however, the last line was a bit tricky since “clear” does not have 
very many rhyming words associated with land or water. 
 The next word is Aotearoa. This word, pronounced EY-OH-TAY-UH-ROW-UH, refers 
to the land that is New Zealand. This word is a more specific name for the land that Māori call 
home. The word itself is a symbol of refuge and holds thematic elements of home, such as safety 
and health- therefore I wanted to include it in the Cultural Crossword. The clue reads: 
Aotearoa (8): Tea in Aoroa. 
The clue is heavily dependent on the word box, like Whenua in that way. The clue breaks into 
“tea” and “aoroa”, with in as an indicator that “tea” needs to be inputted into “aoroa” somewhere 
to make the clue word apparent. I had many difficulties with this clue, and decided a simpler 
approach was needed as the word is very complicated with very few consonants, this leaves little 
room for anagrams. Homophonic elements of cryptic clues would also not work, as it took me 
months of hearing the word to understand the pronunciation completely- something that the 
solvers do not have time for. The poem reads: 
 
 
24 
 
Aotearoa 
We call it New Zealand, but that’s just our name. 
The Māori call it differently, it’s just not the same. 
Four separate islands make up the chain, 
The chain, when found, was improperly named. 
Aotearoa highlights the differences in the naming of the four islands that make up New Zealand. 
It specifically mentions that the Māori have a different name for the chain, and that when 
colonists arrived, they placed their nametag on the land, overtop that of which was already 
declared “Aotearoa” by native Māori. The poem uses an AAAA rhyme scheme, which lets all of 
the lines rhyme with the -ame sound. “Chain” in line three presents itself as a slant rhyme, 
sounding close enough to fit the scheme. No syllabic pattern is present. 
 The next word is Whakapapa which is a cultural word for Māori heritage or genealogy. I 
wanted to use Whakapapa since the heritage of the Māori is very important to their culture. 
Included in the definition is the aspect of tradition and honor, which makes it even more 
important and relative within Māori society. The clue reads: 
Whakapapa (9): Strike a father, no seas. 
“Strike a father” is the main part of the clue that the solver needs to work with. The phrase itself 
plays on the pronunciation of the clue word. Whakapapa, or “Whack a papa” could also be said 
as “strike a father”. “no seas” refers to the need to remove the letter C from the “whack a papa” 
deduction to come to the clue word of Whakapapa. This was a clue that, upon looking long 
enough and repeating the word, was easy to come up with. The poem reads: 
Whakapapa 
A family tree is what this would be, 
A mother, a father, it’s all in the past 
Have your own kids, or it cannot last. 
25 
 
This is the only poem to contain three lines, which follow the ABB scheme. I wanted to include 
the meaning of family that the Māori hold close. Whakapapa is the Māori’s past, present and 
future and without it the Māori’s health would suffer. Lines one and three share the same number 
of syllables, 9, however this is coincidental. I had great difficulties with the final line of this 
poem, trying to make the last part into something comprehensible. 
 The next word I used is a phrase- Te Reo, which directly translates to “The language”. I 
most definitely had to include the Māori word for their language in a project based around 
linguistics. More importantly, Te Reo is a drastically important part of Māori tradition, as the 
language is one of the official languages of the nation, residing on every sign and major 
documents. The cultural survival of Maori is credited around their being able to unite around a 
single language. The evening TV news is read in both English and Maori. The clue for Te Reo 
reads: 
Te Reo (2, 3): Ere to! Scrambled eggs! 
The clue for Te Reo works as an anagram, indicated by “Scrambled eggs”, or “scrambled” 
specifically. The first part of the clue, “Ere to” is what “scrambled” is referring to, as eggs only 
has four letters and one word, while “ere to” has five letters and two words, like the clue word of 
Te Reo. A simple clue once I decided to use the homophone technique. The poem reads: 
Te Reo 
Patterns and sounds, 
With these, there are grounds, 
To talk or deliberate. 
This one is theirs, a way to communicate. 
I thought this poem was clever, since the title, as we now know means “the language”. The entire 
poem is a definition and characteristics of language itself, implying that the clue word is also 
26 
 
dealing with language and speech. It follows an AABB rhyme scheme with “sounds” and 
“grounds” rhyming for the A lines, and “deliberate” and “communicate” making up the rhyming 
of the B lines. There is no pattern to the syllables within the lines. 
 Te Reo is spoken by the Māori and the Pākehā. The Pākehā are what the Māori call 
Europeans. The direct translation is “white”, as you will see referred to in the poem. I thought 
that since Europeans have a large impact on the culture, it would be important to include Pākehā 
in the Cultural Crossword for the Māori. The clue reads: 
Pākehā (6): Bake with peas before laughing just once. 
This cryptic clue works with substitution and a sequence, placing the first part “bake with peas” 
before “laughing just once”. I thought that it would be obvious to the solver to replace the letter 
most sounding like “pea” in the indicator word, “bake”. This leads the solver to the first part of 
the word, “pake” before laughing just once, as indicated by the “ha” in Pākehā. I like this clue. It 
is creative and simple, but still it takes a grasp on the English language and maybe some more 
youthful elements of speech, these being familiarities with texting language and abbreviations. 
The poem reads: 
Pākehā 
Their name for us, 
If you hear it, don’t fuss, 
It’s meant with respect, 
It’s just white, in their dialect. 
I enjoy Pākehā, mostly because it fits well into the linguistic elements of the project, specifically 
because of the last line. I wanted to make sure that there was no misunderstanding behind the 
word “Pākehā” as in some situations, ignorance leads to conflict. Other terms for races 
developed by different peoples have led to social tangles in the past, and I didn’t want any 
27 
 
confusion. The poem follows an AABB pattern with “us” and “fuss” rhyming in the first and 
second lines, and “respect” and “dialect” rhyming in the second. I like the laid-back attitude of 
the poem, as it helps to enforce the understanding that the Māori have with European 
immigrants. I was so happy to rhyme “respect” with “dialect” as it sticks to the theme of 
language within the project, but it took some thinking and work to come to the output present. 
 Another extremely important cultural artifact of the Māori, Pounamu was my next 
choice of clue word. Pounamu is the cultural greenstone that makes up much of traditional Māori 
art, tools, and jewelry. Unlike any other stone on the planet, Pounamu helps act as a symbol of 
Māori tradition and history. The clue reads: 
Pounamu (7): Sounds like poo name with you for ease 
I thought this clue would work well, especially among some of the younger solvers. The “sounds 
like” portion indicates a homophonic aspect to the next phrase “poo name”, “poo” specifically. 
This helps to create the first part of the clue word. The next segment, “name with you for ease” 
suggests that the solver needs to replace the E in “name” with a u to come to the result. 
Hopefully with inclusion of the word box, the solver can solve for the clue word, Pounamu. I 
could not help but giggle at how easy the clue came around, once again just from staring and 
reading the word aloud enough. The poem reads: 
Pounamu 
Natural beauty of verdant stone, 
A tool, adornment, or piece to own, 
A piece of art, buttressed and cleft, 
A small rock, with cultural heft. 
I quite enjoy this poem- it includes processes of art, the nature associated with Pounamu, and the 
cultural significance behind the rock. The rhyme scheme was a troublesome feat. It follows an 
28 
 
AABB pattern, rhyming lines one and two ending with “stone” and “own” respectively, and 
three and four with “cleft” and “heft”. It does not have a particular syllabic pattern. 
 Another important word I chose to include was Wharenui. The definition of a Wharenui 
is the Māori’s common house. This is the structure in which meetings would be held, gatherings 
would occur or other group related activities. The significance of home and togetherness within 
Māori culture helps to define who they are, and the inclusion of Wharenui helped to reinforce the 
cultural learning within the Cultural Crossword. The clue reads: 
Wharenui (8): I must warn hue! Without a second’s notice, the mix-up occurred. 
I love this clue. The entire first set of words makes up the clue word, apart from the second word 
“must”. The removal of “must” is indicated by “without a second’s notice”, as second can refer 
to the unit of time or position within a list of items. Following the removal of “must”, the solver 
uses the rest of the clue “the mix-up occurred”, to deduce that the remaining words is an anagram 
for the clue word. Upon solving, they find that “I warn hue” is a mixed up Wharenui. I was very 
lucky with the discovery of the anagram and an accompanying subtraction phrase. This is 
perhaps the best clue in the project, as the clue flows, when read aloud, very well. The poem 
reads: 
Wharenui 
A simple home for all to own,  
A warm place to rest weary bone, 
with the tribe, you must stay, 
dances to dance, and songs to play! 
I wanted to capture the homely elements of the wharenui. A sense of togetherness comes from 
key words in the poem like “all”, “tribe” and “home”. Each line provides a kind of warm, 
homely element in the way a warm welcome would. It uses a rhyme scheme of AABB, where 
the first line and second line rhyme, where the same goes for the third and fourth lines. Each line 
29 
 
has 9 syllables, aside from the third, which has 6. This aspect of syllabic patterning was 
unintentional and is not meant to have meaning. 
 The next word I chose to include was New Zealand. I figured that the inclusion of New 
Zealand into the cultural crossword would create an opportunity for the solvers to get a foothold 
within the Cultural Crossword, as it is one of the few words not in Māori. Also, New Zealand is a 
familiar term when discussing Māori. The clue reads: 
New Zealand (3, 7): Not old, close to the land of tea 
I thought this clue would be an easy solve, considering three things: the number of words and 
letters in each word, and the simplicity behind the clue. “Not old” can only mean one of two 
things, new or young. “Close to the land of tea” is the remainder of the clue, and the second 
word. “Close to” refers to the homophonic elements of “land of tea”, or “tea-land”. This can lead 
the solver to the conclusion of New Zealand, the clue word. The clue wasn’t too difficult, 
however I thought it was interesting how tea, a large part of Kiwi culture, was an aspect in 
solving the clue. The poem reads: 
New Zealand 
Dense forests and grueling storms, 
Pleasant evenings and peaceful morns, 
A world of sheep who cry and bleat, 
Providing us a meal to eat. 
I wanted to include other aspects of New Zealand in the clue, this led to some of the key 
experiences of New Zealand that came to mind when I hear or see the word. Each aspect of the 
poem, forests, storms, sheep, food, and wonderful weather encapsulate some first impressions, 
and stereotypes about New Zealand to help the solver come up with the clue word. The poem 
follows an AABB pattern and does not contain syllabic patterns. 
30 
 
 My succeeding clue word was James Cook. Another historical component, I thought to 
include James Cook to educate about the history of New Zealand, as we see it. James Cook was 
the explorer who made New Zealand known to Europeans in the 18th century. The clue for James 
Cook reads: 
James Cook (5, 4): The longer Jim chef 
This clue works in the manner that Jim is a shortened name for “James”, suggesting that if the 
solver come up with the longer version of the name, they will come to the first part of the clue. 
Cook is also a synonym of the word chef, creating a double replacement to come to the 
conclusion of James Cook. Not a difficult clue- in either solving or writing. The poem reads: 
James Cook 
A new Island, did he look; 
Aboard a ship with mighty crew. 
Through toil and trouble, rocked and slew, 
Unto an Island, a man named Cook. 
The poem helps to understand some of the history behind the finding of New Zealand for the 
Europeans. A very obvious hint toward the clue word is in the fourth line, explicitly mentioning 
the name Cook. I enjoyed writing this poem but couldn’t get around the usage of the -ook sound 
for a rhyming element. In a way, it helped to create the ABBA pattern, as the I read the title 
subconsciously in order to picture an (A)ABBA pattern. In this pattern, the first line and fourth 
line rhyme and the second and third lines rhyme. It somewhat fits the poem, as the climax occurs 
in these lines, the second and third, with a resolution in either the first or last lines. This creates a 
sort of storytelling feel that would be common to historical recollections, especially oral ones. 
There is no syllabic pattern in the poem. 
31 
 
 Later came the choice to use Poi. The poi is a dance tool traditionally used by women 
when Māori are singing, dancing or a combination of the two. It is a set of two weights tethered 
together which are swung rhythmically to songs and dance. I wanted to include poi, since it helps 
examine an important cultural concept within Māori tradition, which is dance. The clue for poi 
is: 
Poi (3): Sounds like boy, with peas and slanted ice. 
The clue suggests the clue word sounds like “boy” when said aloud. The rest of the clue indicates 
that the similar sounding letters to “peas” and “ice” would replace the characters in “boy”. This 
would lead the solver to replace the B with a P, and the Y with an I, resulting in the clue word 
poi. Not a difficult clue, but somewhat in the comprehension of the clue. “slanted ice” can come 
across strange, but slanted in the terms of poetry can mean something of similar sound, and I 
thought “ice” sounded a bit like the letter I when said softly or quickly enough, producing a slant 
rhyme. The poem reads: 
Poi 
Give it a whirl- and keep up the pace 
A group of us can keep the rhythm in place 
Your arm, leg, or palm in your hand, 
Each of us together, the display is grand. 
Upon the writing of this paper, I had not written a poem for Poi, as I had forgotten about it. 
However, I think this poem works well. It holds a sense of togetherness and a goal to achieve as 
a performer within the tribe. It follows an AABB pattern, with “pace” and “place” rhyming, and 
“hand” and “grand” rhyming. It also helps to describe the process and function of a poi dance, 
indicated by the first and third lines and their instructional aspects. Within the poem, there are no 
syllabic congruencies.  
32 
 
 The next word is an important aspect of Māori culture: Tā Moko. This is the traditional 
style of tattooing associated with the Māori people. These tattoos indicate status and lineage as 
well as tribal associations. They also help in actions such as the haka or pukana in order act as an 
accessory to intimidation tactics. Tā Moko holds a high regard and honor within Māori society, 
with the practice still strong today. The clue reads: 
Tā Moko (2, 4): The reversed at with backwards agreement for mom without ‘em pre-agreement 
The lengthiest of my clues, it provides specific, albeit confusing instructions. This was an 
attempt to use the clue word without any homophonic elements or anagrams. “The reversed at” 
refers to the first word in the clue word “Ta” being a reversal of the word “at”. “With” suggests a 
pairing of this segment with the remainder of the clue. The last part’s “backwards agreement” 
refers to OK and the fact that it also needs reversing to “KO” “mom without ‘em” states that one 
M must be removed from mom, and resides before the “KO”- hopefully leading the solver to 
“MOKO” and solving the clue for Tā Moko. The poem reads: 
Tā Moko 
Psychological armor 
Lasting honor 
Permanent 
Psychological trauma 
I wanted to make the meaning come across without the depth associated with Tā Moko in the 
poem, which is why I used so few words in each line. The repetition of psychological leads the 
reader to understand a deeper meaning behind the tattooing, and a sense of power associated with 
the tattooing. The poem follows an AABA pattern, or an AABC pattern, depending on if the 
solver is a Kiwi or if the solver is an American. The AABA pattern comes from the slant rhyme 
of “traumar”, as traditional kiwi pronunciation would include an -ar sound at the end of trauma. 
33 
 
“Permanent” gets its own line since it can apply to both the wearer of the Tā Moko, and the 
viewer. A fun poem to write, with only a bit of difficulty when composing. 
 The last word in the Cultural Crossword is Māori. I had to use the word of the people the 
game is about in the game itself. I specifically included this word as the last word, as you will 
see why in the poem. The Māori are the indigenous tribe of people who call New Zealand home. 
The clue reads: 
Māori (5): I roam with mixed meanings 
The clue is an example of an anagram. “I roam” acts as the base the solver will work with, while 
“with mixed meanings” suggests an anagram befalls the base. The largest challenge with the clue 
came from deciding what method of encrypting to use. I had already used “Mao Zedong” in a 
previous clue, and an anagram seemed the easiest, especially after the Tā Moko clue. The poem 
reads: 
Māori 
The group of people this is all about, 
Who laugh and sing and scream and shout. 
This brings a close to my poems and prose, 
About these folks, now everyone knows! 
As I mentioned, the last clue word in the presentation needed to be Māori, as I had written the 
poem special with the group in mind. Not meant to be a difficult solve, Māori suggests elements 
residing within the culture, a culture of happy individuals. The poem has an AABB pattern, 
rhyming “about” and “shout” in the first lines, and “prose” and “knows” in the last lines. I 
decided on this poem because I was having difficulty writing a poem for the clue word Māori. I 
figured I would use the closure and finishing of the game as an aid in the poetry. 
 
 
34 
 
RELATION TO ANTHROPOLOGY 
The study of Anthropology is the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and 
space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture. This 
study contains four major subsections: physical, or biological, cultural, linguistic, and 
archaeology. The cultural crossword puzzle focuses on the linguistic elements of the English 
language and the Māori language, and cultural elements of the Māori people, and Western world 
culture. In addition, it plays on the combination of the two cultures, and acts as a bridge or 
meeting point for understanding and the development of social structures and unities. 
 
CONCLUSIONS 
To accomplish the goals that I had planned for this project, I had to do three things: 1) Introduce 
the culture of the Māori to the people, and specifically the youth of Wyoming. 2) Introduce the 
aspects of Anthropology to the youth of Wyoming. And 3) I wanted the crossword to act as a 
new form of learning, by taking steps to introduce cultures that the people of Wyoming are not 
familiar with, yet, not extremely distant from. Unfortunately, due to the Corona Virus pandemic, 
I was unable to test my game in a setting that would work to contribute to the completion of my 
goals. 
As this was an entirely creative project, I did not base the Cultural Crossword on any research. I 
thought of different ways of learning in the classroom that I would have enjoyed in my earlier 
years of education, and from that I decided that poetry and puzzles worked well with my style of 
learning. I understand that a well-researched background of pedagogy would give the activity 
more merit, which is why it was imperative that I would be able to use the activity in a classroom 
or group setting- to see if I needed to change the activity, or do research in order to better 
35 
 
understand my approach. If I would do this project again, I would incorporate background 
research into the power of play and the effect that playing games has on learning. 
I feel that this activity would work best in a Civics or History course, or a course dedicated to 
culture itself. I had not thought about precursor setup leading to the activity, as I figured it would 
work as a special type of event. With a bit of deeper thought, I understood that a classroom 
setting would be better for a long-term use of the Crossword. This would require a basic 
understanding of Anthropology and its sub fields, which the orator would need to provide. If at 
possible, this activity would be the first in a series of introductory puzzles to cultures which then 
could be explored by the students by their own means. 
I wanted to give a brief understanding of some cultural concepts and objects that I had come 
across in my study abroad time to New Zealand. These ranged from concepts of wellness to the 
day to day activities of Maori today to simple terms like "Waka" or "Pounamu". I wanted the 
depth of the learning to be enough to allow for a level of understanding that interests students 
and provokes questions and exploration of the culture introduced. 
Despite the inability to put my game to work, I still learned and grew from this project. The 
creative challenges presented helped me to become a better writer and thinker, and to help me 
better understand the ways that people think about things. In addition, I could grow along the 
lines of my personhood in a way that matured me and my way of thinking about culture and the 
needs and discrepancies about cultures and cross-cultural bondage. It really helped me 
understand how important culture is, especially the culture of others, to see the faults presented 
within our own, and the discoveries of solutions to these problems.