Word or Term | Meaning | |
ahi kā | those who have the right to occupy the land | << Back to Top |
ahi taitai | sacred fire lit for rituals associated with the departmental gods | |
aho | weft | |
Aho Maatua | Guiding document for Kura Kaupapa | |
aho tapu | in weaving, the thread that sets the rest of the pattern | |
āhua | feature(s), aspect(s); shape, look, nature of a person | |
āhua Māori | particular character, aspect that is relative to being Māori | |
āhuatanga | likeness, characteristics relative to the circumstances | |
aituā | misfortune resulting in death | |
aki | to encourage, urge on | |
ako | to learn | |
ao | world | |
ao tawhito | ancient Māori world | |
Aotearoa | New Zealand | |
āpure | patch, circumscribed area | |
aroha | kindness, affection, love, compassion | |
atawhai | to show kindness to | |
atua | deities, gods | |
awa | river, channel, gully | |
awhi | help / helpful | |
āwhina | help, assist | |
āwhinatanga | to help or assist | |
awhitanga | assistance, help, guidance | |
e tiki | refer to hei tiki | << Back to Top |
hāhi | faith, religion | << Back to Top |
haka | vigorous dances with actions and rhythmically shouted words | |
haka pōwhiri | a ceremonial dance of welcome | |
hāngi | earth oven; food cooked in earth oven | |
hapū | sub-tribe(s) that share a common ancestor | |
harakeke | flax | |
Haramai a Paoa | name of an ancestral chant: ‘The arrival of Paoa’ | |
hari | dance, sing | |
hauhaua | crippled | |
haukāinga | home; true home | |
hauora | health | |
Hawaiki | traditional homeland of the Māori | |
hei matau | a neck ornament fashioned after the design of a fishhook | |
hei tiki | a tiki that is worn by both female and male and is regarded a heirloom | |
hinengaro | mind | |
Hine-te-iwaiwa | Māori goddess who presides over childbirth and the art of weaving | |
hoa tāne | husband | |
hoe waka | traditional canoe paddling | |
Horouta | ancestral canoe | |
Huarahi Māori | Māori medium | |
hui | meeting | |
Huitau Te Hau | a Rongomaiwahine elder | |
ihu | nose | |
ika tapu | first man slain in battle | << Back to Top |
inanga | a whitish variety of greenstone | |
iwi | tribal kin group; nation | |
kahawai | NZ fish | << Back to Top |
kahurangi | a light coloured variety of greenstone | |
kai ure | a traditional ritual of protection or self-preservation | |
kaiako | teacher, tutor | |
kaiāwhina | helper, assistant | |
kaikaranga | person making a ceremonial call of welcome. | |
kaikōrero | speaker, orator | |
kaimahi | worker, staff | |
Kaikōura | a town of the north-eastern South Island of NZ | |
Kaikōura-Wakatu | part of the north-eastern South Island coastline of NZ | |
kaimoana | sea food | |
Kaipara | a harbour in the northern North Island of NZ | |
kai-rā-mua | an offender of a rāhui | |
kairangahau | researcher | |
kaitiaki | guardian, minder; custodian over natural resources | |
kaitiakitanga | guardianship; cultural and financial guardianship; accountability | |
kanikani | to dance | |
kanohi | face, eye(s) | |
kanohi kitea | to be a seen face | |
kapa haka | a row/team/group performing haka/waiata/poi | |
kāpo | blind | |
kāpotanga | blindness | |
kapu | the object invested by the tohunga rendering a rāhui effective | |
karaka | a native tree; fruit of the karaka tree | |
karakia | prayer(s); chant(s) and incantation(s) | |
karanga | call | |
karanga mate | inviting death | |
Katikati | township in the Bay of Plenty, North Island, NZ | |
kaui | a cord or string on which articles are strung | |
kaumatua | elder | |
kaumātua | elder(s) | |
kaupapa | topic, basis; guiding principles | |
kaupapa Māori | Māori based topic/event/enterprise run by Māori for Māori | |
kauri | a native forest tree of Aotearoa | |
kāuta | shack, lean to | |
kawa | professional practice, ethical practices, protocols | |
kawakawa | a dark variety of greenstone | |
kete | basket made of flax strips | |
kete whakairo | decorative basket | |
kerepō | blind | |
kiekie | Freycinetia banksit - a climbing plant | |
kina | sea egg | |
kiore | rat | |
Kiwa | famous ancestor of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki tribe, Noth Island, NZ | |
kiwi | native bird of and international symbol of New Zealand | |
kiwikiwi | species of fern | |
koha | gift, token, pledge | |
kōhanga reo | pre-school based on Māori language and culture | |
kōpaki | a present made to the relatives of a deceased person in token of respect | |
korari | flower stalk of harakeke | |
kōrero | speak, talk, discuss; discussion | |
kōrero tawhito | ancient story | |
koroua | male elder | |
korowai | traditional cloak | |
kotahitanga | unison/unity | |
kōwhaiwhai | painted scroll ornamentation - commonly used on meeting house rafters | |
kuia | female elder | |
kuku | mussel | |
kukura | inflamation of the eyes | |
kumara | sweet potato | |
kūpapa | collaborator; be neutral | |
kupu | word, anything said | |
kura | school; red; precious | |
Kura Kaupapa | Māori language immersion schools | |
kuru | an ornament of greenstone; the tongue on the end of the body of a canoe | |
maara | plantation | << Back to Top |
māhakitanga | humility | |
mahetau | a variety of potato | |
mahi | work | |
mahi rangahau | research | |
mahinga kai | garden | |
mahi whakairo | to carve; carving | |
Māhia Peninsula | East Coast locality, south of Gisborne, North Island, NZ | |
MAI te Kupenga | The National Programme for Māori and Indigenous Post-graduate Advancement | |
mana | prestige, status, authority, influence, integrity; honour, respect | |
mana motuhake | autonomy, independence, authority | |
mana whenua | authority over land and natural resources, tribal estates | |
Manaaki Whenua | Landcare Research, New Zealand's foremost environmental research organisation. | |
manaaki(tia) | show respect or kindness; entertain; care for | |
manaakitanga | respect; hospitality, kindness; mutual trust, respect and concern | |
manaia | stylised figure used in carving; sea horse | |
manuhiri | visitor(s) | |
Māoritanga | the very essence of being Māori | |
marae | tribal meeting grounds; village common | |
Maraenui | settlement on the western side of the Motu River, North Island, NZ | |
marae ātea | village forecourt, village gathering point | |
maro | fronds of fern or twigs used in certain rites as rāhui | |
matā | flint | |
mataāwaka | original canoes; founding settlers, kinsfolk from original canoe | |
mātaitai | fish or other foodstuff obtained from the sea or lakes | |
matakerepō | blind | |
matakerepo | cloudy vision | |
matapō | blind | |
matapōtanga | blindness | |
mātauranga | knowledge, tradition, epistemology | |
mātauranga Māori | Māori knowledge | |
mate | monthly cycle, menstruation, period | |
mātua | parents | |
mātua-tīpuna | forebears | |
Māui | a demigod | |
maunga | mountain | |
mauri | life essence, life force, energy, life principle | |
mauri ora | knowing who we are | |
mihi | greeting | |
moana | sea, ocean | |
mokemoke | lonely, solitary; homesick | |
moko | refer to tā moko | |
mokopuna | grandchild | |
mōteatea | lament | |
mōteatea | song, chant | |
Motu River | river in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, North Island, NZ | |
Mt Maunganui | a mountain east of the Tauranga Harbour, North Island, NZ | |
muka | prepared fibre of flax | |
Muriwai | famous ancestress of the Whakatohea people, North Island, NZ | |
Ngā Kura Aoraki | English speaking mainstream shcools | << Back to Top |
Ngāti Kuri | a tribal group from Kaikoura, South Island, NZ | |
ngā mate | the dead | |
ngā manukura | leadership | |
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga | The National Institute of Research Excellence for Māori Development and Advancement | |
ngāwaritanga | patience, lenience | |
noa | not sacrosanct, having no restrictions/prohibitions; free from tapu | |
Nūhaka | situated south of Gisborne, North Island, NZ | << Back to Top |
ōhākī | deathbed wishes | |
Ohiwa | a harbour in the eastern Bay of Plenty, North Island, NZ | |
Okarea Pā | a traditional Māori settlement at Te Whaiti, North Island, NZ | |
Ōmaio | settlement on the eastern side of the Motu River, North Island, NZ | |
oriori | lullaby | << Back to Top |
pā | home | |
pā | a term used for a row of weaving; fortified Māori village | |
pā harakeke | a collection or plantation of flax; the material and process of weaving | |
pakanga | war | |
pakeke | adult | |
Pākehā | a person of predominantly European descent | |
pakiwaitara | legend | |
pā muka | a collection of rows or pā | |
papakāinga | village, homestead | |
Papatūānuku | Papa for short: the name given to the Earth Mother | |
Paritu | locality north of Māhia, North Island, NZ | |
Pātere | Chants | |
patu | club like weapon | |
patupaiarehe | supernatural children of the mist | |
pāua | abalone, sea ear, edible univalve molluscs of rocky shores | |
peruperu | a variety of potato | |
pīngao | a sand dune plant used for weaving | |
pipi | cockle | |
pītau | perforated spiral carving | |
pito | placenta | |
piupiu | grass skirt | |
pohe | blind | |
pohe ka kanohe | blindness | |
poro toroa | albatross bone | |
pōrangi | mad, in a hurry | |
pou rāhui | rāhui post, symbol of a rāhui; a boundary post erected to warn people against trespassing | |
pou takawaenga | Extension Service Team of the Ministry of Fisheries | |
poua | grandfather, great grandfather | |
pounamu | greenstone, nephrite | |
poupou | upright slabs forming the solid framework of the walls of a wharenui | |
pōwhiri | to welcome; welcome ceremony | |
pū | bunch or clump | |
pūau | toggle of hei tiki | |
pu-harakeke | a variety of flax | |
pūngāwerewere | spider | |
pūkengatanga | teaching, preserving and creating Māori knowledge; skills, talents | |
Pukerua Bay | a bay of the south western North Island, near Wellington, NZ | |
pūmanawa | ability | |
pūmanawa moe | potential | |
puna | a spring of water; source, origin | |
puna mātauranga | source of knowledge | |
pura | blind | |
pura o te kanohi | blindness | |
pūrakau | ancient legend, myth | << Back to Top |
rāhui | a custom used by Māori to prohibit the use of a resource; to instate an area out of bounds following a fatality | |
rāhui | restrictions | |
rāhui tūāhu | to claim ownership of the area | |
rāhuitia | banned, out of bounds, forbidden, prohibited, under sanctuary, reserved or preserved | |
rangatahi | youth | |
rangatiratanga | self determination, autonomy, the right of Māori te be self-determining | |
Ranginui | Rangi for short: the name given to the Sky Father | |
raranga | weave; weaving | |
raupatu | conquest, confiscation | |
reo | language | |
Rerewhakaitu | lake near Rotorua, North Island, NZ | |
Ringatū | literally, ‘The Upraised hand,’ name of the faith created by Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki | |
ringawera | kitchen hand, kitchen worker | |
rito | centre shoot or heart of the flax | |
rīwai | a general name for potato | |
rohe | area, region; boundary | |
rongoā | natural/herbal remedies; medicine | |
Rongomaiwahine | name of an East Coast Māori tribe, North Island, NZ | |
roro | brain | |
rua | two | |
rūnanga | council of collective hapū established to manage the affairs of the hapū | |
Rūnanga o Kirikiriroa | Māori Iwi Authority of Hamilton, North Island, NZ | << Back to Top |
tā moko | the art of Māori tattoo | |
taewa | potato | |
taha kikokiko | physical aspects | |
taha tinanga | physical | |
tahi | one | |
tai | sea or coast | |
taiaao | environment | |
taiaha | close quarters combat weapon | |
taiāpure | a reserve management system under the Māori Fisheries Act 1989 | |
take | basis | |
tamariki | children | |
tamaiti whakatoi | wayward child | |
Tāne | a son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku | |
tāne | male(s) | |
Tānewhirinaki | son of Muriwai | |
tangata | person(s), people | |
tangata whenua | indigenous people of the land, first people of the land | |
tangi | to cry/mourn; mourning rituals | |
tangihanga | funeral, rites for the dead | |
tangiwai | a transparent variety of greenstone | |
tāniko | weaving of threads to create bodice, bands. | |
taonga | precious; an heirloom to be passed down through the different generations of a family; protected natural resource | |
taonga pūoro | Māori musical instrument(s) | |
taonga tuku iho | traditions, knowledge, treasures handed down by ancestors | |
tāpapa | ground work preparation for a plantation | |
tapu | sacrosanct, prohibited, protected, restricted | |
taua | grandmother, great grandmother | |
tauira | student(s) | |
taumata | orator's bench | |
tauparapara | a chant to start speech | |
Tauranga | city in the Bay of Plenty, North Island, NZ | |
tauru | personified head of the rāhui pole | |
tautoko | support | |
tautokotanga | supporting | |
taurima | treat with care | |
tawa | a native tree; fruit of the tawa tree | |
tāwhara | fruit of kiekie, a climbing plant/vine; source of food and drink | |
Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki | name of a east coast North Island Māori tribe | |
Te Āo Hurihuri | Changing world | |
Te Āo Māori | Māori worldview | |
Te Āo Marama | world of light and enlightenment | |
Te Arawa | name of a central North Island Māori tribe | |
Te Atua | God | |
te hāhi Ringatū | the Ringatū faith | |
Te Ika a Māui | the North Island of New Zealand | |
te iwi kāinga | the home people | |
Te Karere | current news programme delivered totally in te reo Māori | |
Te Kawa a Māui | School of Māori Studies, Wellington University of Victoria | |
te mana whakahaere | autonomy | |
Te Māngai Pāho | Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency, Aotearoa | |
Te Mata | a township in the North Island, NZ | |
Te Ohu Kaimoana | The Māori Fisheries Trust | |
Te Ope Kātua o Āotearoa | The New Zealand Defence Force Medals Site | |
Te Puna Wānanga | Māori Department | |
Te Puni Kōkiri | Ministry of Māori Development | |
Te Rā | the 12th day of each month when the Ringatū faith hold service | |
Te Rakipae Whenua | North Shore | |
te reo Māori | the Māori language | |
Te reo kori | the language of movement | |
Te Rūnanga o Kaikoura | Kaikoura Iwi Authority, South Island, NZ | |
Te Tai o Marokura | The Environmental Health Team of Kaikoura | |
Te Wai Pounamu | South Island of New Zealand | |
Te Whakatōhea | name of an eastern Bay of Plenty Māori tribe, North Island, NZ | |
Te Whānau-a-Apanui | name of an eastern Bay of Plenty coastal Māori tribe, North Island, NZ | |
Te-Koau | a son of Muriwai | |
tī kouka | cabbage tree | |
tiaki | care for; give guidance | |
Tihirau | is situated near Cape Runaway | |
tika | true, authentic; right, correct | |
tikanga | customs and practices | |
tikanga Māori | Māori customs and practices | |
tiki | neck ornament usually made of greenstone, carved in an abstract form of a human | |
tiki popohe | crude or unfinished hei tiki | |
tinana | body | |
tino rangatiratanga | self-governing; having absolute independence and autonomy | |
Tionga | a famous Māori ancestor | |
tipuna | ancestor | |
tīpuna | ancestors; ancestral | |
tītī | muttonbird | |
tītī rāhui | prohibition of muttonbird harvesting | |
tohu | preserve | |
tohunga | expert, skilled, learned | |
toi | mountain palm | |
toi ataata | visual arts | |
toi iho Māori | trademark authenticating that products are made by Māori | |
toi pūroro | music | |
toki | adze, axe | |
tokotoko | walking stick, pole, staff | |
Toroa | captain of the Mataatua canoe | |
toretore | inflamation of the eyes | |
tōtara | a native and majestic forest tree of Aotearoa | |
tuakana - teina | elder-younger sibling | |
Tūhoe | name of an inland eastern Bay of Plenty Māori tribe, North Island, NZ | |
tukutuku | ornamental lattice work on interior walls of a wharenui or meeting house | |
tuna | eel | |
tungāne - tuāhine | male - female | |
tupuna | ancestor; ancestral | |
tūpuna | ancestors; ancestral | |
tupuna awa | ancestral river | |
Tūranga-Nui-ā-Kiwa | Gisborne, North Island, NZ | |
tūrangawaewae | a permanent place to stand, a place where one has the right to stand and be heard | |
tūrangawaewae o Patuharakeke | where the sub tribe of Patuharakeke have the right to stand and be heard | |
turehu | albino | |
turuki | arouse, reinforce the force of a rāhui by supplementary incantations | |
tutaekuri | a variety of potato | |
tūturu | specific; definite | << Back to Top |
ūkaipōtanga | recognition of origins | |
urekehu | albino | |
urenika | a variety of potato | |
ureure | fruit of kiekie (Freycinetia banksit - a climbing plant) | |
urupā | burial ground, cemetary | |
uta | inland | |
utu | revenge; reciprocity | |
wahapū | gateway | << Back to Top |
wāhi Māori | a place or area having Māori spiritual/physical characteristics | |
wahine | female | |
wāhine | females | |
wai | water | |
waiata | sing, song, chant | |
waiata aroha | song of love similar to waiata tangi with no set actions | |
waiata poi | dance performed with a tiny ball on the end of a string | |
waiata tangi | lament | |
waiata tawhito | traditional song chant | |
waiata-ā-ringa | action song | |
waihanga Māori | particular characteristics, aspects relative to being Māori | |
Waikokopu | Waikokopu stream | |
Waipiata | Waipiata Stream | |
wairangi | excited, wild monster, reckless | |
wairua | spirit, soul; attitude | |
wairua Māori | Māori spirit, soul | |
wairuatanga | recognition of the spiritual dimension | |
waka | canoe | |
waka huia | treasure box | |
waka taua | war canoe | |
wānaka | Ngāi Tahu dialect for wānanga | |
wānanga | Māori houses of higher learning, tertiary institute; conscious thought-processing discussion; transmitting the knowledge of the culture from one generation to the next | |
waro rāhui | name of the theoretical pit that an offender of a rāhui will fall into. | |
wā tika | right, correct or appropriate time | |
wero | challenge | << Back to Top |
whaea | mother, aunt | |
whai | string game | |
whaikōrero | formal speech, oratory | |
whakaeke | entrance | |
whakahīhī | arrogant, conceited | |
whakairo | carve, engrave | |
whakairo upoko | carved head with protruding tongue | |
whakaiti | to belittle, ridicule, mock | |
whakamā | shy; ashamed/shame(d) | |
whakanoa | to make free from tapu/restriction | |
whakapapa | genealogy, ancestry, familial relationships; unlike the Western concept of genealogy, whakapapa crosses ancestral boundaries between people and other inhabitants in the natural world | |
whakapapa Māori | Māori genealogy | |
whakapiringatanga | a secure, well-managed environment | |
whakarite | justify | |
whakatau | critical assessment | |
whakatauki | proverb | |
whaka waatea | exit | |
whakawhanaukataka | Ngāi Tahu dialect for whakawhanaungatanga | |
whakawhanaungatanga | kinship, links, ties; facilitating a more open relationship then mere researcher and researched; network of interactive links | |
whakawhitiwhiti kōrero | discussion | |
whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro | consultation | |
whānau | family; nuclear/extended family | |
whanauka | Ngāi Tahu dialect for whanaunga | |
whanaungatanga | the interrelationship of Māori with their ancestors, their whānau, hapū, iwi as well as the natural resources within their tribal boundaries such as mountains, rivers, streams and forests; recognition of relationships iwi and waka. | |
whāngai | the introduction of new strips in weaving likened to the whāngai concept of fostering, adopting a child | |
whare | house | |
whare tipuna | ancestral house | |
whare pora | house of weaving | |
wharepuni | meeting-house | |
wharenui | meeting house | |
whāriki | mat | |
whatu | twining (as in weaving) | |
whatumanawa | feelings | |
whenu | twist or spin (in weaving) a strand of cord | |
whenua | land | |
whenua | afterbirth | |
