“’Pakeha’, its origin and meaning.”

Ranford, Jodie. “’Pakeha’, its origin and meaning.” MaoriNews.com,Kingston Strategic (NZ) Ltd, date unknown, http://www.maorinews.com/writings/papers/other/pakeha.htm

• “There are no definitive oral or written records about the exact origins of the term ‘Pakeha’ and despite some beliefs about it meaning ‘White Pig’ or ‘Bugger Ya’, the term Pakeha is probably not the insult that some believe is the case. Many New Zealanders appear to dislike the term which refers to a New Zealander of caucasian descent, believing it to have negative connotations.”

• “‘Maori’ as a derivative "from ‘tangata maori’ meaning ordinary people" referring to the "descendants of the country’s first Polynesian immigrants". He writes that the term ‘Maori’ relates closely to "‘tangata whenua’: people of the land; but with connotations of ‘those who were here first’ and ‘host people"”

• we describe ourselves according to our tribal membership, rather than as a Maori. I am Maori only in relation to Pakeha. Maori means ‘normal’, i.e. in relation to Pakeha, I am Maori. These definitions indicate that ‘Maori’ was adopted initially to enable a linguistic differentiation between the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa and the early European settlers, the Maori and the other”

• Initially a Pakeha was that person who came from England, and settled or worked in New Zealand. With time, Pakeha was the fair-skinned person who was born in New Zealand. Later the term was even more general. It was applied to all fair-skinned people in New Zealand, no matter what their ancestry or place of birth" (Department of Labour, 1985).”

• There appears to be two emerging uses of the term. One approach continues the references to those with white skin colour while the more inclusive refers to all those who are non-Maori appears to be gaining currency”

• The term ‘Pakeha’ is sometimes understood to mean ‘long pig’ and ‘white pig’. However this is not the case”

• In 1894 Hoani Nahe suggested that ‘Pakeha’ could be an abbreviation of ‘Paakehakeha’, gods of the ocean who had the forms of fish and man (…)This theory is supported firstly by the idea that white people, like the Paakehakeha, came from the sea, and secondly because the word ‘Paakehakeha’ contains a reduplication of the maori word ‘keha’ meaning ‘pale’”

• The most likely derivation seems to be from ‘Pakepakeha’ (George, 1999) mythical creatures who are mischievous, human-like beings, with fair skin and hair who lived deep in the forest, coming out only at night. (Biggs, 1988).”

• The ‘Pakepakeha’ are also linked to ‘Patupaiarehe’ by their fair skin and hair. The ‘Patupaiarehe’ had fair skin and beautiful voices, and gave people the secret of fishing with nets. These creatures’ possess canoes made of reeds, which can change magically into sailing vessels.”

• Author agrees with Fairy story

Paakehakeha

Gods of the ocean who had the forms of fish and man

Patupaiarehe

Beings with fair skin and hair who gave people the secret of fishing with nets

Pakepakeha

Mythical, human like being, with fair skin and hair who possessed canoes made of reeds which changed magically into sailing vessels

Pakeha

Originally referring to the early European settlers of New Zealand

• These clear linkages give a poetic truth to the term ‘Pakeha’, each version associating ‘Pakeha’ with the ocean, which is how immigrants have arrived in Aotearoa from Cook’s first voyage to present day.”

• Is any non-Maori person currently in New Zealand a Pakeha? If ethnic identification rests with the individual, it is a fluid concept and means that an individual can identify him or herself with an ethnic group of his or her own choosing.”

• It is therefore my belief that the term ‘Pakeha’ does not identify an ethnic group. Both ‘Pakeha’ and ‘Maori’ terms instead offer us a way to differentiate between the historical origins of our settlers, the Polynesian and European”

• "In the beginning we were all immigrants to these islands, our ancestors boat people who arrived by waka, ship or aeroplane. The ingredients of our indigenous cultures too were imported:”

• Is it not true that we "become indigenous to New Zealand at the point where our focus of identity and commitment shifts to New Zealand, and away from our countries and cultures of origin" (King, 1999, p235)”