Pākehā
From Open Encyclopedia
Pākehā is a Māori language word describing New Zealanders of predominantly European descent, which has become part of everyday New Zealand English. Its origin is not clear, but present usage originated after the sustained arrival of Europeans in New Zealand in the late 18th century.
It may derive from pākehakeha or pakepakehā which refer to imaginary, fair-skinned beings. It is believed it was originally meant to mean non-Maori, but there are claims it is a Maori transliteration of "bugger ya", or derives from the Maori words keha (flea) and poaka (pig), and therefore expresses derogatory implications. There is little etymological or linguistic support for these latter notions. In fact the correct Maori word for flea is puruhi and the word poaka is from the term porker as these animals were introduced by the British explorer Captain Cook.
Many Maori words are phrases that can broken down in to other words. For example a major New Zealand river the Waikato is a combination of the words wai: water and kato: flowing or flood. The word pakeha is made up of the following words:
- Pā - village (fortified), stockade, block up, to blow, form of address to male elder or superior, be heard, hit, be struck, obstruct, touch, affect
- Kē - afterwards, before, already, different, other, otherwise, step- (as in step-brother)
- Hā - breath, flavour, taste, so, then, what!
It should also be rembered that the early Māori people were a fierce and proud warrior race. Inter-tribal warfare was a way of life, with the conquered being enslaved or in some cases eaten. This was also the fate of some early European (Pakeha) that they encountered.
Pakeha sometimes appears pluralised in English as Pakehas, but in Maori, the plural is Pākehā: pronouns or definite articles indicate pluralisation. Pakeha is also appearing more frequently as the accepted plural in English.
Contents |
Meaning
The Concise Māori Dictionary (Reed/Kāretu, 1990) defines Pakeha as "foreign, foreigner (usually applied to white person)". While the English – Maori: Maori – English Dictionary (Briggs, 1990) defines Pakeha as "white (person)".
Common alternative designations for pākehā in New Zealand include "New Zealand Europeans" or "European New Zealanders" and sometimes "Caucasian New Zealanders" or "White New Zealanders". The term 'white' can have offensive connotations and seldom occurs. Some early European settlers who lived among the Maori became known as Pakeha Māori.
The word sometimes applies more narrowly to just New Zealanders of British and Irish or Anglo/Celtic descent. Sometimes it applies more widely to include non-Māori other than those of European descent. A trend exists to apply the term only to New Zealand-born persons of predominantly European descent, but acceptance of this notion remains still far from universal.
European New Zealanders vary in their attitude toward the word "pākehā" as applied to themselves. Some embrace it wholeheartedly as a sign of their New Zealandness, in contrast to the Europeaness of their forebears. Others object to the word, claiming it to be derogatory or to carry implications of being an outsider, though not to the same extent as the word gaijin in Japan. Those who ignore ethnic distinctions prefer to identify all New Zealand citizens only as New Zealanders.
Historian Judith Binney calls herself a Pākehā and says, "I think it is the most simple and practical term. It is a name given to us by Māori. It has no pejorative associations like people think it does—it's a descriptive term. I think it's nice to have a name the people who live here gave you, because that's what I am".
Cultural identity
Many Pākehā do not readily identify a Pākehā culture. While Maori culture has achieved wide recognition, Pakeha culture tends to be taken for granted as the norm.
Recognised aspects of Pākehā culture often receive the label of "Kiwiana". This includes icons such as the Chesdale Cheese men and the game of rugby. New Zealand culture is an amalgam of cultures, traditionally Pākehā and Māori, but more recently from all over the world.
Michael King, a leading writer on Pakeha identity, discussed the concept in his books Being Pakeha (1985) and Being Pakeha now (1999).
See also
References
- Interview with Judith Binney, New Zealand Herald, 18 June 2005.
