P E P E H A - The pepeha is the way to introduce yourself in Māori.

Keeping in mind the fact that our people, in their tīkanga, face that direction for guidance, what better place could there be to start introducing ourselves! For we are the children of the whenua, of the moana, of the awa and of our tūpuna.

To introduce ourselves - we tell the story of how we arrived here, and the story does not start with ourselves!!! But before we journey back in time we should anchor ourselves to this whenua.

Mau is hold, therefore our Maunga (mountain) will anchor us here.

How did our tupuna come? They crossed the Moana, (oceans) the vast stretches of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (Pacific Ocean) and followed the Awa (rivers) to come to the final resting places of their Waka (canoes).

From the Waka came the Rohe (districts) which were divided into the Iwi then into the Hapū. Each hapu is affiliated with a Wāhi (place) and in each wāhi is a Marae.

Your Kaumātua (Grandparents) come from the Marae, your Mātua (parents) come from them and then there is You.

The next thing to do is to put all of this into Te Reo.

Using "Te ______" is saying that such and such is "THE mountain" etc. However, remember about each Iwi having different tikanga? What is the mountain for one is not the mountain for another.

Using Tāku implies that you are superior to what you are talking about.

Using Tōku/ŌKU implies that what you are talking about is superior to you.

Everyone uses different templates (maunga first, or waka first etc) that matters not (to me). It is YOUR Pepeha - you tell your story how your tribe/kaumatua/wānanga teaches you. So long as tikanga is adhered to, we still learn about each other. We still come to know you, and your pepeha tells us who you come from, where your people came from, as we try to make connections whilst listening.

Tauiwi - refers to those not born of this land.

Pākehā - refers to European/Caucasian born here. I do not advise non-Māori to claim MANA WHENUA. Unless you whakapapa directly back to ancestral land sites, do not claim them.

Check out these pepeha and he kōrero mōku templates created by Kaimahi Māori from Auckland Library!

Kia kaha te reo Māori!

Ko ____________ te māunga

Ko ____________ te awa/roto/moana

Ko ____________ te waka 

Ko ____________ tōku tīpuna 

Ko ____________ tōku iwi

Ko ____________ tōku hapū

Ko ____________ tōku marae 

Nō ____________ ahau

Ko ____________ rāua ko __________ ōku mātua 

Ko ____________ tōku ingoa

The mountain that I affiliate to is _________________________

The river/lake/sea that I affiliate to is ____________________

The waka that I affiliate to is ____________________________ 

My (founding) ancestor is _______________ 

My tribe is _____________________________

My sub-tribe is _________________________

My marae is ___________________________ 

I am from _____________________________

My parents are __________ and ___________ 

My name is ____________________________