Pākehā Totally Explained

Everything about P Keh totally explained

Pākehā are New Zealanders of predominantly European ancestry. They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry. The word Pākehā is also sometimes used to refer to any non-Māori person.
Pākehā is a Māori term, the origins of which are unclear, but which was in use by the late 18th century. Controversy has arisen among some people who consider the word to be insulting and prefer the term New Zealand European. However it's used by numerous Pākehā, some of whom feel that New Zealand European is an inaccurate term.

Etymology

Meaning

No Māori dictionary flags 'Pākehā' as derogatory. The Concise Māori Dictionary (Kāretu, 1990) defines the word as "foreign, foreigner (usually applied to white person)", while the English–Māori, Māori–English Dictionary (Biggs, 1990) defines Pākehā as "white (person)". The word mostly applies more narrowly to just New Zealanders of European (primarily British and Irish) descent, and this is the interpretation used in official New Zealand documents and forms. Sometimes it's applied more widely to include all non-Māori. Some early European settlers who lived among Māori became known as Pākehā Māori.
A trend exists, particularly among some young people, to apply the term only to New Zealand-born persons of predominantly European descent as a means of distinguishing themselves from more recent settlers and emphasising their temporal and spatial distinctiveness, but acceptance of this notion remains still far from universal. Some New Zealanders, primarily but not exclusively of European descent, reject any ethnicity-based label, preferring the term 'New Zealander'. A significant minority stated this as their ethnicity in the 2006 census.

Origins of the word

The origins of the word Pākehā are unknown, although the most likely sources are the words pākehakeha or pakepakehā, which refer to mythical human-like creatures, with fair skin and hair, sometimes described as having come from the sea. When Europeans first arrived they rowed to shore in longboats, facing backwards while rowing the boats to shore. In traditional Māori canoes or "waka", paddlers face the direction of travel. This is supposed to have led to the belief that the sailors were supernatural beings.

Popular misconceptions

There have been several dubious interpretations given to the word Pākehā, including:

That it derives from poaka the Māori word for (pig), and keha, one of the Māori words for (flea), and therefore expresses derogatory implications. There is no etymological or linguistic support for this notion - like all Polynesian languages, Māori is generally very conservative in terms of vowels; it would be extremely unusual for 'pā-' to derive from 'poaka'. The more common Māori word for flea is puruhi.
That it means white pig or unwelcome white stranger. However, no part of the word signifies "pig", "white", "unwelcome", or "stranger".
The claim that it's a Māori transliteration of the English-language insult "bugger ya". It is alleged that hearing this insult being used by sailors, the Māori applied it to them. This has the hallmarks of a back-formation by an English speaker trying to arrive at an explanation after the fact; it also fails to account for the two long vowels in Pākehā.

Acceptance

New Zealanders of European ancestry vary in their attitude toward the word "Pākehā" as applied to themselves. Some embrace it wholeheartedly as a sign of their connection to New Zealand, in contrast to the European identity of their forebears. Others object to the word (some object strongly), claiming it to be derogatory or to carry implications of being an outsider; some consider it similar to the word gaijin in Japan. The term Pākehā is also sometimes used among New Zealanders of European ancestry in distinction to the Māori term Tauiwi (foreigner), as an act of emphasising their claims of belonging to the space of New Zealand in contrast to more recent arrivals. Those who prefer to emphasise nationality rather than ethnicity in relating to others living in New Zealand refer to all New Zealand citizens only as New Zealanders. The meaning and use of the term is widely disputed.
Historian Judith Binney calls herself a Pākehā and says, "I think it's the most simple and practical term. It is a name given to us by Māori. It has no pejorative associations like people think it does—it's a descriptive term. I think it's nice to have a name the people who live here gave you, because that's what I am".

History

The point at which European settlers in New Zealand became Pākehā - or indeed New Zealanders - is subjective. The first European settlers arrived in New Zealand in the early nineteenth century, but most were missionaries, traders and adventurers who didn't intend to stay permanently. From the 1840s, following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the assumption of British sovereignty, large numbers of Europeans began to settle permanently in New Zealand. Most of these settlers were from Britain, with a disproportionate number coming from Scotland. There were also numerous settlers from Ireland and Northern and Central Europe.
   In the late nineteenth century there were some moves towards cultural nationalism, and many Pākehā began to see themselves as different from people living in Britain. However there were still strong ties to the 'mother country' (the United Kingdom, particularly England), which were maintained well into the twentieth century. Until some point in the mid twentieth century most Pākehā considered themselves to be both British and New Zealanders. Many Pākehā intellectuals migrated to Britain in order to pursue their careers as this wasn't possible in New Zealand. Notable expatriate Pākehā from this period include writer Katherine Mansfield and physicist Ernest Rutherford.
   Pākehā ties with Britain were drastically weakened in the decades after World War II. Quicker, cheaper international travel allowed more Pākehā to visit and live in other countries, where they saw that they were different from the British and felt the need for a stronger national identity. In 1973, Britain joined the European Economic Community, cutting New Zealand off from free trade with its biggest market and leaving Pākehā feeling betrayed by the people they'd thought of as their own. Meanwhile, Māori were becoming more assertive, especially about the value of their culture and their ownership over it. The Māori cultural renaissance made many Pākehā feel that they lacked a culture of their own, and from the 1970s numerous Pākehā writers and artists began to explore issues of Pākehā identity and culture. It was at this point that the word 'Pākehā' grew in popularity, although it remained controversial.
   Many Pākehā have become successful on the world stage. These include sportspeople such as Susan Devoy, Mark Todd, Richard Hadlee and numerous All Blacks including Colin Meads and Sean Fitzpatrick. In the arts, director Peter Jackson, writers Janet Frame and Lloyd Jones and artist Billy Apple are all well-known Pākehā. However while famous Māori and Polynesian New Zealanders are usually identified by ethnic group as well as nationality, famous Pākehā are usually referred to simply as 'New Zealanders'.

Cultural identity

In general, Pākehā continue to develop identities distinct from and complementary to those of their (often) British origins and those of the other Anglosphere nation-states such as Australia, Canada and Ireland, as well as Māori. As with most other settler societies, it can be said descriptively that Pākehā contemporary culture is an amalgam of cultural practices, tensions, and accommodations: British/European with some Māori and Polynesian influences and more recently wider cultural inputs, particularly from Chinese and other Far Eastern cultures.
However, defining 'Pākehā Culture' can be a problematic project, because there are many cultural activities shared by Māori and Pākehā - for example, Rugby football is a game enjoyed by many New Zealanders; to refer to it exclusively as Pākehā culture would be misleading given that although it's a sport of English origin it's widely popular amongst contemporary New Zealanders with Māori heritage. Similarly, Christianity in New Zealand, despite its Pākehā practice and foreign origins, has also been shaped by Māori through movements such as the Ratana Church and Destiny Church, as well as their involvements in churches of European origin such as the Anglican Church. Where Pākehā identity is identified, commonly NZ kitsch and symbols from marketing such as the Chesdale Cheese men are used as signifiers, and might more appropriately be called "Kiwiana". Michael King, a leading writer on Pākehā identity, discussed the concept of distinct Pākehā practices and imaginations in his books Being Pākehā (1985) and Being Pākehā Now (1999), and the edited collection, Pakeha: The Quest for Identity in New Zealand (1991), conceptualising Pākehā as New Zealand's "second indigenous" culture.

Further Information

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