More on Pepeha 

In his book 'Tikanga; An introduction to te ao Māori' Keri Opai describes pepeha;

Pepeha is knowledge from the whare wānanga, the traditional house of learning. Pepeha follows the pattern of maunga, then awa/moana, iwi, hapū, marae because it is following the water cycle.

As Indigenous people we are part and parcel of the environment, especially the water cycle. “Mau”, as in the word “maunga”, means to catch, capture, hold. 

The maunga catches and holds the snow, sleet, hail and rain which eventually forms rivers and lakes, the water of which nourishes the people, and which inevitably evaporates and returns to the sky and the cycle begins again.

So, when non-Māori say their pepeha and say the name of the mountain or the river that’s closest to where they live, that is not OK. That’s not their maunga. If they say that, it means they’re part of the hapū which has a thousand years of being part of the water cycle which originates in that mountain. 

"You do not say, as a Pākeha, “that’s my mountain, that’s my river,” unless you are affiliated to the hapū."

He suggests that because of this, it is not appropriate for non-Māori people to use this same format. He does believe, however, that it’s appropriate for non-Māori to have and use a pepeha. But it must be structured differently from a Māori one.

Read more about it in these two articles;

Pepeha for non-Māori

A respectfully curious approach

So, if non-Māori shouldn't use the traditional Māori format, what can they say? 

Keri suggests the format below is appropriate as it makes connections without misappropriating any Indigenous ties to land, water and air. 

Let's go back though to what Keri Opai, says above "You do not say, as a Pākeha, “that’s my mountain, that’s my river,” unless you are affiliated to the hapū." 

Many Pākehā whose families have lived in Aotearoa for several generations say that they feel a connection to the land where their family has lived. I too feel a strong connection to the maunga and awa that I lived close to for 30 years in the UK, they have a special place for me in my emotional growth, they are the places where I met my husband, where my children were born and grew up, where we made our home. When I went back there a few weeks ago, it was like going home, I climbed the maunga, I drank from the awa, it was like I had never been away.  

I wanted to express that sense of belonging and connection in my pepeha and after talking to Māori friends and doing some research, I came up with this one.  The first part is a short mihi to acknowledge the people in the room.  Te Tiriti o Waitangi is my waka as it is what guides me in my journey and life as tangata tiriti and an ally in Aotearoa, the place I have chosen to call my home. 

It is longer and more complicated than the standard, formulaic "Ko....te maunga...." and it has taken me a few years to come to this and develop the language skills (and I'm still practising!) to say it. For a long time I used the formulaic version and it still has it's place as a shorter introduction in some contexts. Over the last few months, I have been in situations where I wondered what I was going to say as an introduction and I had it ready to say, but realised that it wasn't appropriate for that setting.  A simple introduction saying where I was from and my name and role was sufficient.  Only recently, I did use it as it was the right thing for the time and place.