Key terms and concepts

Key terminology

Haere mai! - Welcome! Enter!

Hui - meeting, conference, gathering

Kaikōrero or kaiwhai korero - speaker (there are many other terms)

Karanga - the ceremony of calling to the guests to welcome them onto the marae

Koha - gift, present given by guest to the hosts

Marae - the area for formal discourse in front of a meeting house; or the whole marae complex, including meeting house, dining hall, forecourt, etc.

Manuhiri - guests, visitors

Tangata whenua - original people belonging to a place, local people, hosts

Tangi - short (verbal version) for the above; or to cry, to mourn

Tangihanga - funeral ceremony in which a body is mourned on a marae

Waiata - song or chant which follows a speech

Whaikōrero - the art and practice of speech making

Whare nui - meeting house; sometimes run together as one word wharenui

Whare kai - dining hall

Whare paku - lavatory, toilet

Key Concepts

Aroha - compassion, tenderness, sustaining love

Ihi - power, authority, essential force

Kotahitanga - Unity

Mana - authority, power; secondary meaning: reputation, influence

Manaakitanga - respect for hosts or kindness to guests, to entertain, to look after

Mauri - hidden essential life force or a symbol of this

Rangatiritanga - self determination

Wairuatanga - Spirituality