Pākehā

Māori and Pākehā boys at school swimming pool, Auckland, 1970

Pākehā (or Pakeha; Template:IPAc-en;<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Template:IPA) is a Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesian New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zealander.<ref name="Kupu.maori.nz">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref> It is not a legal term and has no definition under New Zealand law. Papa'a has a similar meaning in Cook Islands Māori.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Etymology and history

The etymology of the Māori word Template:Lang is uncertain. The most likely sources are the Māori words Template:Lang or Template:Lang, which refer to an oral tale of a "mythical, human like being, with fair skin and hair who possessed canoes made of reeds which changed magically into sailing vessels".<ref name=Ranford>Template:Cite journal</ref> When Europeans first arrived they rowed to shore in longboats, facing backwards:<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

In traditional Māori canoes or Template:Lang, paddlers face the direction of travel. This is supposed to have led to the belief by some, that the sailors were patupaiarehe (supernatural beings).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

There have been several dubious interpretations given to the word Template:Lang. One claims that it derives from Template:Lang, the Māori word for pig, and Template:Lang, one of the Māori words for flea, and therefore expresses derogatory implications.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> There is no etymological support for this notion—like all Polynesian languages, Māori is generally very conservative in terms of vowels; it would be extremely unusual for pā- to derive from Template:Lang. The word Template:Lang itself may come from the proto-Polynesian root puaka, known in every Polynesian language (Template:Lang in Tongan, Uvean, Futunian, Rapa, Marquisian, Niuean, Rarotongan, Tokelauan, and Tuvaluan; it evolved to the later form Template:Lang in Samoan, Tahitian, some Rapa dialects, and Hawaiian); or it might be borrowed or mixed with the English 'porker'. It is hard to say, since Polynesian peoples populated their islands bringing pigs with them from East Asia, but did not bring pigs to New Zealand. The more common Māori word for flea is Template:Lang. It is also sometimes claimed that Template:Lang means 'white pig' or 'unwelcome white stranger'. However, no part of the word signifies 'pig', 'white', 'unwelcome', or 'stranger'.<ref>(1) Williams, H. W. (1971). A dictionary of the Maori language (7th ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: Government Printer. (2) Ngata, H. M. (1993). English-Maori dictionary. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. (3) Ryan, P. (1997). The Reed dictionary of modern Maori (2nd ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: Reed. (4) Biggs, B. (1981). Complete English–Maori dictionary. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press.</ref>

The term was in use by the late 18th century. In December 1814, the Māori children at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands were "no less eager to see the packaha than the grown folks".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Meaning and use

The Oxford Dictionary of English (2011) defines 'Pakeha' as 'a white New Zealander'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Oxford Dictionary of New Zealandisms (2010) defines the noun Pākehā as 'a light-skinned non-Polynesian New Zealander, especially one of British birth or ancestry as distinct from a Māori; a European or white person'; and the adjective as 'of or relating to Pākehā; non-Māori; European, white'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Māori in the Bay of Islands and surrounding districts had no doubts about the meaning of the word in the 19th century. In 1831, thirteen Template:Lang from the Far North met at Kerikeri to compose a letter to King William IV, seeking protection from the French, "the tribe of Marion". Written in Māori, the letter used the word Template:Lang to mean 'British European', and the words Template:Lang to mean 'strangers (non-British)'—as shown in the translation that year of the letter from Māori to English by the missionary William Yate.<ref>Binney, Judith (2007). Te Kerikeri 1770–1850, The Meeting Pool, Bridget Williams Books (Wellington) in association with Craig Potton Publishing (Nelson). Template:ISBN . Chapter 13, "The Māori Leaders' Assembly, Kororipo Pā, 1831", by Manuka Henare, pp 114–116.</ref> To this day, the Māori term for the English language is Template:Lang. Māori also used other terms such as Template:Lang (supernatural, or object of fear, strange being),<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Template:Lang (ghosts),<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and Template:Lang (metal or referring to persons foreign)<ref>Template:Citation</ref> to refer to some of the earliest visitors.<ref name="tah">Template:Cite journal</ref>

However, The Concise Māori Dictionary (Kāretu, 1990) defines the word Template:Lang as 'foreign, foreigner (usually applied to white person)', while the English–Māori, Māori–English Dictionary (Biggs, 1990) defines it as 'white (person)'. Sometimes the term applies more widely to include all non-Māori.<ref>Orsman, Elizabeth and Harry (1994). The New Zealand Dictionary, Educational Edition. New House Publishers, Auckland. Template:ISBN. Page 193, second meaning.</ref> No Māori dictionary cites Template:Lang as derogatory. Some early European settlers who lived among Māori and adopted aspects of Māoritanga became known as 'Pākehā Māori'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In Māori, plural noun-phrases of the term include Template:Lang (the definite article) and Template:Lang (the indefinite article). When the word was first adopted into English, the usual plural was 'Pakehas'. However, speakers of New Zealand English are increasingly removing the terminal 's' and treating the term as a plural noun.<ref>'pakeha noun'. Merriam-Webster Dictionary.</ref><ref>'plural Pākehā or Pākehās'. Dictionary: Cambridge University Press.</ref> There is also evidence Māori coined the term in the plural as well as in the singular on first encounter with Europeans: Template:Blockquote

Attitudes to the term

A survey of 6,507 New Zealanders in 2009 showed no support for the claim that it is associated with a negative evaluation;<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> however, some reject it on the ground that they claim it is offensive,<ref name="Mulgan">Mulgan, R.G. and Aimer, P. "Politics in New Zealand Template:Webarchive" 3rd ed., Auckland University Press pp.29–31</ref> or they object to being named in a language other than their own.<ref name="Mulgan"/> In 2013, the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study carried out by the University of Auckland found no evidence that the word was widely considered to be derogatory; however, only 12 per cent of New Zealanders of European descent actively chose to be identified by the term, with the remainder preferring 'New Zealander' (53 per cent), 'New Zealand European' (25 per cent) or 'Kiwi' (17 per cent).<ref name="a2013">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

European New Zealanders vary in their attitudes toward the word when it is applied to themselves.<ref name=Bell>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="a2013"/> Some embrace it while others object to the word,<ref name="Mulgan"/> sometimes strongly, saying it is offensive or derogatory, carrying implications of being an outsider, although this is often based on false information about the meaning of the term.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some believe being labelled Pākehā compromises their status and their birthright links to New Zealand.<ref>'Pakeha' Identity Template:Webarchive, Whitiwhiti Korero, issue 5, March 2006. Human Rights Commission.</ref> In the 1986 census, over 36,000 respondents ignored the ethnicities offered, including Pākehā, writing-in their ethnicity as 'New Zealander', or ignoring the question completely.<ref name=Bell/> A joint response code of 'NZ European or Pakeha' was tried in the 1996 census, but was replaced by "New Zealand European" in later censuses because it drew what Statistics New Zealand described as a "significant adverse reaction from some respondents".<ref>Statistics New Zealand. (2009). Draft report of a review of the official ethnicity statistical standard: proposals to address issues relating to the 'New Zealander' response Template:Webarchive. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand. Template:ISBN. Accessed 27 April 2009.</ref> Sociologist Paul Spoonley criticised the new version, saying that many Pākehā would not identify as European.<ref name=census38> Template:Cite web</ref>

The term Pākehā is also sometimes used among New Zealanders of European ancestry in distinction to the Māori term Template:Lang (foreigner), as an act of emphasising their claims of belonging to the space of New Zealand in contrast to more recent arrivals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Those who prefer to emphasise nationality rather than ethnicity in relating to others living in New Zealand may refer to all New Zealand citizens only as 'New Zealanders' or by the colloquial term 'Kiwis'.

Historian Judith Binney called herself a Pākehā and said, "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."<ref name=Binney>Template:Cite web</ref> New Zealand writer and historian Michael King wrote in 1985: "To say something is Pakeha in character is not to diminish its New Zealand-ness, as some people imply. It is to emphasise it."<ref>King, Michael (1985), Being Pakeha: An Encounter with New Zealand and the Maori Renaissance, Auckland: Hodder and Stoughton.</ref>

See also

• Europeans in Oceania
• White privilege

Further reading

• Hoani Nahe, "The Origins of the Words 'Pakeha' and 'KaipukeTemplate:'", Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. 3, December 1894