Pākehā
Maori-language term for non-Maori or for New Zealanders of European descent
Pākehā or Pakeha is a Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesian New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zealander. It is not a legal term and has no definition under New Zealand law. Papa'a has a similar meaning in Cook Islands Māori.
Etymology and history
The etymology of the Māori word Pākehā is uncertain. The most likely sources are the Māori words pākehakeha or pakepakehā, which refer to an oral tale of a "mythical, human like being, with fair skin and hair who possessed canoes made of reeds which changed magically into sailing vessels". When Europeans first arrived they rowed to shore in longboats, facing backwards:
We stayed at Whitianga and their ship arrived. Our elders saw their ship and said that it was a god and that the crew were goblins. The ship anchored and a boat started to row to shore. Our elders then said, "Indeed they are goblins as they have eyes in the backs of their heads.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Pākehā” as maori-language term for non-Maori or for New Zealanders of European descent. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as maori-language term for non-Maori or for New Zealanders of European descent. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1250849. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pākehā” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.