Glossary of New Zealand and Māori Terms used in the book
A.C.C Accident Compensation Commission. New Zealand Government department that deals with compensation for physical injury by accident.
Ahua: form or appearance
Te Ao Māori: The Māori world
Aroha: Love
Cuzzies: slang for relations
Dance Exponants: Kiwi Band
Haere ki te...: Go to the
Hākari: feast
Hāngi: earth oven
Hapu: wider whānau
Harakeke: New Zealand flax
Heru: carved bone comb for hair
Housing corp: New Zealand government department
responsible for housing
Hua: colloquial term, adds emphasis to a statement
Iho: flowing through, coming in, spiritual essense
Kai: food, to eat
Karanga: formal call, (summon, welcome)
Ka pai: good
Karakia: incantation
kauae moko: tattoo on chin, lips and sometimes forehead
Kaumatua: elder
Kēhua: ghost
300 301
Koro: old man
Korowai: cloak
Kuia: old woman
Macrocarpa: tree grown on farms to shelter animals
Makutu: curse
Mana: authority, prestige
Manuka: tea tree
Matakite: one who foresees an events
Mimi: urinate
Moko(puna) : grandchild (mokopuna)
Otago: region in the south of the South Island (Ōtākou)
Pākehā: New Zealander of European descent
Panekoti: overskirt to wear over trousers for Pōwhiri
Pāua: abalone
Pito: navel
Pommy: Kiwi slang for British immigrant
Pōrangi: crazy
Pōwhiri: welcome ceremony
Pūkana: stare widely
Rauru: umbilical cord
Ringawera: kitchen workers
Rimu: red pine
Ruru: Morepork
Spliff: marijuana cigarette
Swandri: Kiwi brand of heavy woollen shirt
Tahi, rua, toru, wha: one, two, three, four (whā)
Tangi(hanga): funeral
Tapu: sacred
Taonga: anything highly prized.
Taupo: town and lake in the centre of the North Island
of New Zealand
Tiki Tane: NZ singer/entertainer
Tino ātaahua koe: you are very beautiful
Toke: puff on a marijuana cigarette
Tui: parson bird
Waharoa front entrance to a Marae
Wairua: spirit, spiritual side (Wairuatanga) spirituallity
Whaea: aunt, mum
Whakapapa: liniage
Whānau: family
Whāngai: foster or adopt
Wharekai: dining hall
Wharenui: big house, meeting house
Wharepaku: toilet
Whare tipuna: ancestral house.
This glossary gives meanings that are familiar to the writer and her
whānau.