Aotearoa / New Zealand for beginners

There will be some Maori words I use on this blog that people outside Aotearoa/New Zealand may not understand.  We have three official languages here (New Zealand Sign Language, English, and Maori) and sometimes a Maori word is really the only one that will work in a New Zealand context.

There’s a Maori dictionary here.  Otherwise I’ll define words as I use them on this page.  Please let me know if you think I’ve got something wrong – I’m not fluent in te reo by any means.

• Maori – indigenous people of New Zealand/Aotearoa
• Whanau – family – but wider than the English sense, more like extended family.
• Mana – authority, control, personal power, command, determination, dignity, influence, integrity, prestige.
• Aotearoa – New Zealand.
• Te Reo – Maori language
• Iwi – closest to this is tribe.  Maori who whakapapa back to/descend from a common ancestor.
• Whakapapa – genealogy, relationships to one another, descent line.
• Pakeha – non-Maori New Zealander – usually means of European descent – so white New Zealander.  Other non-Maori New Zealanders likely to be referred to as “tauiwi.”
• Tauiwi – all non-Maori New Zealanders.
• Kiwi – flightless bird that’s only in New Zealand.  And slang term for anyone from here.
• Tino rangatiratanga – independence, sovereignty, control over your own destiny.
• Hui – meeting.
• Ka Kite – goodbye.
• Kaitiaki – guardian, keeper.
• Takutai – coast, coastal, shore.