Glossary of Māori Words and Phrases

JKB had only a limited knowledge of Māori. Nonetheless, this list is partly compiled from glossaries which he compiled for Jerusalem Daybook, Autumn Testament and ‘A Handbook for the Christian Militant’. Some of his other writings include an English translation of a phrase or sentence. In all such cases his versions are preferred.

a	and, then, so
ahau	I, me
aia	particle, he, the
Te Ao Hoū	the new world, modern times [title of a journal]
ara	rise up, awaken from sleep
ariki	paramount chief
Te Ariki	Christ, the Lord
aroha	love
arohanui	strong love, love of the many
atua	spirit, deity
Te Atua	God, God the Father
au	I, me
auē	alas, woe
E . . . ana	phrase indicating continuous action, past, present or future
e	particle used before proper name when addressing someone
hāere	come, go
hāere atu	go away
hāere ra	farewell, goodbye [to person leaving]
hāhi	church as a body, denomination, building
haka	posture dance
hanga	create, build
hāngi	earth oven or, by common usage, a feast prepared in this way
hara	sin, crime, fault
te hau	the windpage 421
he	a, some, also (in prayer) a fault, as in the phrase ‘through my fault’ in the ‘Confiteor’ (‘I confess . . .’), error
Hemi	James
hīnaki	eel-trap
hine	girl, daughter, young woman
Hine nui te pō	goddess of death
Hiruhārama	Jerusalem
hoa	friend
Hoani	John
hōiho	horse, donkey
Ihōa	Jehovah
Ihu	(Hēhu) Jesus
inanga	whitebait; also a pale translucent variety of greenstone
ingoa	name
iti	small
ka	introductory word indicating the beginning of a continuous action, past, present or future
kaha	strong
kia kaha	be strong
kai	food
kāore	no
Karaiti	Christ
karaka	a large tree that bears edible orange-yellow berries
karakia	prayers
kare	to long for, desire ardently
Te Kare	an object of affection; Jacquie Baxter’s Māori name
katoa	all,every
kaumātua	elder, elders (male)
kauri	massive cone-bearing forest tree prized for its timber
kēhua	ghost
ki	to, towards, at
kia	be, to be; future tense, so that, introductory word to a command
kina	sea-urchin, sea-egg
kō	particle indicating present tense, is, are; or emphasising the subject
koe	you (singular)
kono	woven food basket
kōrero	talk, discussion, group discussionpage 422
koro	uncle, grandfather, elder relative
Te Kouti	Māori prophet and military leader, founder of the Ringatu religion; often spelt ‘Te Kooti’
koutou	you (more than two people)
kōwhai	indigenous tree with yellow flowers
kua	introductory word indicating completed action
kuia	revered old woman
kūmara	Māori root crop, sweet potato
kupu	word, message
kurī	dog
mahi	work, job
māia	energetic
mākutu	spell, curse
mana	prestige, respect
manaaki	care for, hospitality
manu	bird
manuhiri	guest, visitor
manuhiritanga	hospitality, relation of host tribe to its guests; described by JKB as ‘the practice of mercy and respect to the guest and the stranger’; ‘unlimited hospitality to the guest and stranger’
mānuka	indigenous scrub-bush, tea-tree
Māoritanga	Māori spirit and tradition marae tribal meeting ground attached to meeting-house
māramatanga	understanding, insight, the light to travel by
Maru	god of fishing
matagouri	a thorny tangled shrub; also known as wild Irishman
mataī	black pine
mate	death, sickness, problem
matewa	[sic] JKB defines this variously. In ‘The Young Warriors’ he describes it as ‘the area of Maori thought and feeling that lies at the edge of reason’; in ‘Extracts from “Notes of Community Life [1]”’ he defines it as ‘the night life of the soul’; while in Jerusalem Daybook he paraphrases it both as ‘the night life of the soul’ and ‘the area of dreams and omens and hidden spiritual relationships to the dead and the living and our nonhuman environment’. Sometimes it seems to mean ‘contemplation’
Mathiu	Matthew; more commonly ‘Matiu’page 423
Te Matua	the Father
mau	fixed, stable, grasp, hold
Māui	mythological Māori hero, one of whose exploits was to try to kill the Death Goddess by entering her body
me	and, also
mō	for (other than speaker)
moa	large, extinct flightless bird
Mōhi	Moses
Ngā mōkai	pets, the youngest members of a family. JKB uses it in the sense of ‘the fatherless ones’
moko	facial tatoo
moni	money
Te Mōrehu	the people, the survivors (of Parihaka)
mutu	finished, completed (‘Kua mutu’ being the translation of the last words of Christ on the Cross: ‘It is finished.’)
ngā	the (plural)
ngākau	thoughts, heart (i.e. emotions)
Ngāpuhi	a Northland tribe
ngutu	beak
Te Ngutu o Te Manu	a famous South Taranaki fighting pa
nīkau	indigenous palm tree
noa	ordinary, common, freed from tapu
nui	large, big, grand
o	of
ōku	my, mine (plural)
ora	life, well-being, health
pā	Māori village (originally fortified)
pai	good
pākehā	New Zealander of European descent
Pārao	Pharaoh
pātaka	store-house for food
pia	beer
pipi	common edible bivalve
pō	night, darkness, world of the dead
nga pōhoro	the poorpage 424
pōhutukawa	trees found in coastal areas which bear spectacular red flowers
poi	light ball on a string which is swung rhythmically to music
Ngāti Pōneke	culture group of the Wellington area (‘Pōneke’ is the Māori name of Port Nicholson)
ponga	silver treefern
pōrangi	mad, madman
pōuri	sad
pūhā	edible sour thistle
pukapuka	books
pūkeko	purple swamp hen
puku	belly
purapura	seed
Te Rā	the sun (by extension, God)
rangatira	leader, aristocrat, chief
rangi	sky, the heavens
rangimārie	peace
rātā	a New Zealand vine or tree with a brilliant red flower
Rātana	a Māori prophet, founder of the Rātana Church
raukore	poor, destitute; JKB used this spelling instead of rawakore
ngā raukore	those who are like trees that have had their leaves and branches stripped away (by extension, addicts, the mentally ill)
Rēneti	Lent
rite ki	like, similar to
rīwai	type of potato
roimata	tear
rongo	peace
Rua	a Māori prophet from the Urewera
runga	on, above
tāima	time
te taipō	the Devil
tāku	my
tama	son, boy, youth
Te Tama	God the Son
Ngā Tamatoa	The Young Warriors, a Māori militant group of the 1970spage 425
tamariki	children
tāne	man
Tāne	god of the forests
Tangaroa	god of the sea
tāngata	men
tangata whenua	local people, home tribe
tangi	Māori funeral ceremony; weep, mourn
tāniko	Māori weaving with coloured threads, especially for the borders of cloaks and headbands
taniwha	water spirit
tapu	sacred, forbidden
tarakihi	an ocean fish
tau	strong, powerful
te	the (singular)
tēina	younger brother
tēnā	that (near you)
tēnā koe	greeting to one person
tēnā koutou	greeting extended to more than three persons (away from speaker)
tēnei	this>
tērā	that over there
tere	quick, fast
tikareti	cigarette
tino	very
titiro	look
Titokowaru	a leader, prophet and peacemaker of South Taranaki
toa	warrior
toetoe	a New Zealand bush with a hollow stalk and whitish-yellow plumes
tohunga	expert, specialist, priest, artist
tokotoko	walking-stick, crutch
tōtara	large forest tree
tuākana	elder brother
tuatara	a New Zealand lizard, famous for having a vestigial third eye in the back of its head
tukutuku [panels]	woven grass and reed wall panels
tuna	eel
Tūtānekai	an Arawa chief in a Maori love legend who played the flute
tūtūā	nobody, worthless person, commonerpage 426
Tūwharetoa	tribal area around Taupo-National Park; people of Te Heu Heu
ua	rain
Wāhi Ngaro	the Void, Space, a term used in Māori creation chants
wāhine	woman
wai	water, wave, who
waiata	song
wairua	spirit, soul
Te Wairua Tapu	the Holy Spirit
waka	canoe
wēta	a New Zealand bush insect resembling a large grasshopper
Te Whaea	the Source, the Mother of God
whakaaro	thought, opinions
whakaiti	become small or humble
whakanui	become large, enhance
whakapono	belief, faith
whare	house
whare whakairo	carved house
wharepuni	principal house, meeting house, sleeping house
whenua	the land (poet.), placenta
whiore	tail
Te Whiro	death, darkness
Te Whiti	Taranaki Maori prophet, leader of non-violent resistance movement
Wiremu	William

[Phrases and sentences beginning with the introductory words E, he, ka, ko, kua, ngā, and te are listed under the second word of the phrase. Translations of sentences given in inverted commas are those supplied by JKB within the relevant texts.]

Ariki rite ki Te Rā: The Lord is like the Sun.

E Ariki, tāku ngākau ki a koe: ‘Lord, my heart belongs to you.’

Ko te aroha i te Ariki: ‘Where a true love of another person is present, there the Lord also is present.’

Hāere atu, hāere ra: ‘Farewell! Go to God! Go!’ Te hāhi Māori: the Māori Church (as a body of members).

page 427

Te hōiho o Karaiti: Christ’s horse, donkey.

Ko Ihu tāku aroha; Ko Ihu tāku mate: Jesus is the source of my love; Jesus is the source of my death.

Ka iti te whare, ka nui te waka: ‘The house is small, the canoe is big.’

Kāore te tāima, kāore te moni, kāore nga pukapuka: ‘No time, no money, no books.’

Karakia mo Te Atua: Prayer for God.

Kaua e whakaarohia te mahinga otirā te otinga: Don’t dance on the toil, picture the completion of the work, its accomplishment.

Kei te pai: That’s good!

Kia tau te rangimārie: ‘May peace be strong among us.’ (Let peace be here among us)

Ki te ingoa o Te Matua, o Te Whāea, o Te Tama, o Te Wairua Tapu: In the name of the Father, and of the Source/Mother [Mary], and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Kia kaha, kia toa, kia māia: Be strong, be brave, be confident!

Kia kaha, kia toa, kia māia. Kia raukore rite ki Te Ariki. Rangimārie kī a koutou. Kua mutu: Be strong, be brave, be confident! Be poor like the Lord! Let there be peace among you! It is finished.

Kia mau te rongo kī runga kī te whenua, mō te whakaaro pai kī ngā tangata: An abbreviated form of ‘Kia whaikōroria kī te runga rawa, te maungārongo kī te whenua, ngā whakaaro pai kī ngā tangata’, which is commonly used to begin a mihi (a speech of greeting). It is a translation of Ch. 2, v. 14 of the Gospel according to Luke: ‘Glory be to God in the highest and on earth peace to those of goodwill.’

Kia tau te rangimarie: ‘May peace be strong among us.’

He Kupu mo Ngā Toa: A message for the Warriors.

Ko te mahi mo tenēi Reneti, ko nga karakia: The task for this Lent is prayer.

He manuhiri au, kō taku hāere e te hāere o aroha: ‘I am a stranger. My coming here is motivated by love’.

Ko te māori te tuakana; ko te pākehā te tēina: ‘The Māori is the older brother; the pākehā the younger brother.’

He mea hanga nā te Atua i te tīmatanga te rangi me te whenua: In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth.

Kua mutu. Kāore. Kua ura te ra o ngā tangata. Kua ura Te Ariki rite ki Te Rā: It is finished. Not at all. The sun has shone upon the people. The Lord has risen like the Sun.

page 428

Nā Te Atua i hanga te whenua me te rangi me ngā tangata: God made the land, the heavens and the people.

Te Ngutu o Te Manu: the beak of the bird. (The name of a famous fighting pa.)

Ōku manaakitanga kī a koutou: Our hospitality to you all.

Ka pai te mahi: Work is good.

Ka piko te ngā: ‘The rain is falling.’ (The breath bends.)

E te pōuri āna ahau. I am stricken with sadness.

Rite kia Mohi: Like Moses

He roimata ua, he roimata tangata: ‘The sky sheds tears in sympathy with the grief of man.’

Tāku ngākau kī a koe: I give my heart to you.

Te purapura iti: the little seed.

Ka piko te nga; he roimata ua, he roimata tangata: ‘The rain is falling; the tears of the sky are falling along with the tears of man.’

E te pōuri āna ahau: My heart would be sorrowful.

Tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou katoa: Greetings, greetings, greetings to you all.

Tihei mauriora: I am alive; or (when someone is about to give a speech) It is my turn to breathe forth some wisdom. (Lit. 'The life-force sneezes.')

He tino pai te mate: It is very good to die.

Te wairua Māori: the Māori spirituality.

Te Wairua Tapu: the Holy Spirit.

Te Wairua Tapu ki runga i a koutou: ‘May the Holy Spirit dwell in your hearts.’

Ka whakaiti tuku mana, ka whakanui te aroha: ‘As my prestige is broken down, so the group love will increase.’

Ka whakanui te puku o te pākehā. ‘The pākehā’s gut has grown big [with swallowing the land].’

Te whare tapu: the church (the building).