How to write a pepehā

What is a pepehā?

What is a pepehā? Students are likely to have come across this previously.

Brainstorm: what is a pepehā, who uses them, where can they be used, what do they say, etc.

Pepehā is how Māori introduce themselves. It begins with mountain- maunga- because ‘mau’ means ‘to hold’, so our maunga anchors us. The structure is ‘top down’, mountain, river, all the way down to us, to recognise how important our past is in creating us.

Mihimihi is a speech that may include pepehā.

Short version:

Pepehā enables relationship building.

Big things first, coming down to you to remember, acknowledge and learn from the past.

Maunga and awa

Options for filling in maunga, awa, etc:

1. Use your own (own pepehā).

2. Don’t have own- use Titirangi (maunga), and Wai Tahurangi (awa).

3. Don’t have your own- use maunga, awa, moana from your hometown.

4. Student objects to maunga, awa, etc. Kei te pai. Don’t include them. After all, pepehā is a reflection of yourself.

If the maunga is ‘yours’, you can say Ko Maungatapu toku maunga. Toku means my, so, Maungatapu is my mountain.

If you are acknowledging Maungatapu as being the mountain of this area, you say Ko Maungatapu te maunga. Maungatapu is the mountain (implying ‘not MY mountain’).

Parents: 

The words māmā and pāpā are transliterations and not ‘real’ Māori words, although are commonly used. For this reason, please use matua and whaea.

This can be difficult in these topsy-turvy times of split families.

If you acknowledge blood parent and step-parent, usually acknowledge blood first. Having said that, if the step-parent feels like a ‘real’ parent, you can put them first. Be aware this is a decision the student is making, and is a ‘statement’.

A student might feel strongly that they don’t want to acknowledge a parent, e.g. is estranged and the parent has not been in contact. The student may leave this parent out altogether. Again, this is the student’s decision and is a strong statement.

Sentence structure changes if there are 2 matua or whaea.

1 whaea:

Ko Anne toku whaea.

2 whaea:

Ko Anne raua ko Mary oku whaea.

Toku for one person, oku for plural.

Raua sort of means ‘and’ in this context.

Siblings

There is no word for sibling, brother or sister. The Māori word depends on relationships. Once you know the word, it’s unlikely to change.

If you are a boy, your sister is tuahine.

If you are a girl, your brother is tungāne.

Your older sibling of the same gender is your tuakana.

Your younger sibling of the same gender is teina.

Refer to siblings google slide for assistance. Sentence structure changes depending on whether there are 1, 2 or 3 siblings, so check the students are reading and transcribing carefully!

Write a sentence for each different relationship because there is no easy way to combine brothers, sisters, older and younger siblings in one sentence.

Ko _____ toku tuakana / teina /tuahine / tungāne

2: Ko _____ raua ko _____ oku tuakana / teina /tuahine / tungāne

3 or more: Ko _____ ratau ko _____, ko _____ oku  tuakana / teina /tuahine / tungāne

Just keep adding ‘ko _____’   Say oldest person first, youngest last.

Including other family members:

Sometimes students want to introduce other family members. Kei te pai, we encourage them to take ownership.

Grandparents go before parents.

Grandfather = pōua, or koro

Grandmother = taua, or kuia

Uncles and aunties go after parents.

Uncle = matua kēkē

Aunty = whaea kēkē

Cousins go after uncles/ aunties.

Cousin = kaihana

Where are you from:

Students living in Auckland will say:

No Tāmaki Makaurau ahau.

NO not KO!

Students who were born out of Auckland can say:

No Hometown ahau, no Tāmaki Makaurau Toku kainga inaianei.

IWI

Māori to describe people is a relatively new term. Prior to colonisation, māori was a word that meant normal. People identify as iwi, and it is still important to Māori to acknowledge iwi. School journals, news articles, etc who feature a Māori person usually have their iwi in brackets after their name.

Usually people who do not belong to an iwi would acknowledge the iwi of the area. 

1. A student identifies with one iwi.

Ko Ngāti Kahungunu toku iwi.

2. A student identifies with two iwi.

Ko Ngāti Kahungunu raua ko Te Aitanga a Mahaki  oku iwi.

3. A student identifies with three or more iwi.

Ko Ngāti Kahungunu i ratau ko Te Aitanga a Mahaki, ko Ngati Mamoe oku iwi.

4. A student does not identify with an iwi, but wants to acknowledge the iwi who own the land Green Bay school is on.

Ko Te Kawerau ā Maki te iwi ō tenei kura.

5. A student wishes to acknowledge the iwi of their hometown.

WAKA

1. A student has their own waka.

Ko Takitimu taku waka.

2. A student has two waka.

Ko Takitimu raua ko Aotea oku waka.

3. A student has three waka.

Ko Takitimu ratau ko Aotea, ko Arahura oku waka.

Toku mean my. Oku mean my (plural).

4. A student does not have a waka, but wants to acknowledge the waka of Te Kawerau ā Maki  

Ko Tainui te waka.

5. A student wishes to acknowledge the waka from their hometown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_M%C4%81ori_waka

Draft sheet below: 

This sheet is designed to help students DRAFT their pepehā. It uses ‘my, toku’ but when students produce their good copy, these can be modified to ‘the, te’ as required. Similarly, sentence structure will change if they have two fathers, acknowledge siblings, etc. This sheet is just a starting point.

Students should be encouraged to use their own pepehā if they have one.