A MAORI WORD

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 666, 19 October 1933, Page 7

A MAORI WORD

DISCUSSION UPON ORIGIN OF THE WORD "PAKEHA." Sorne absurd statements concerning the origin and meaning of M|aori words and place-names often find their way into the newspapers, writes Tohunga" in the New Zealand Railways Magazine. A eorrespondent of a Wellington paper not long since declared th'at "it was not generally known" that the word "pakeha," used to denote a white person, was not ia true Maori word but was developed by the Natives in the early days from a swearword much used j by the early whalers. Those unforJ tunate early whalers are blamed for so many things! They cannot, however, be held laeeountable for "pakeha." This is certainly an ancient and genuine Maori word, of Polynesian 3 origin, meaning a foreigner, a stranI ger, not neeessarily white, but proI bably derived from or associated with "pakehakeha," which is an expression to denote fair-skinned legendary } being. "Patupaiarehe," or fairies, are sometimes termed "pakehakeha" with reference to their colour. "Kiritea" is another term for a white> or fair skin, but "pakeha" is the Maori word . most used, and it is ridiculous to ascribe to it a wh'aler's term of endearment origin. "Tohunga" also writes: — "A hook could be written on the poetry, ro■mance, adventure, and exploration embodied .in the Maori place-names in New Zealand. Indeed I have at hand the material for such a hook, gathered in many years of inquiry all over the country, from the Far North to Stewart Island. The subject, of course, is full of pitfalls." /