The discourse of hospitality is widely used as a way of making sense of the relationships between ‘natives’ and ‘newcomers’ established by immigration. While at first glance this seems a generous and benign system of meaning to apply to relations of immigration, the reality is more complex than this initial view suggests. Relations of hospitality are power relations in which the sovereignty of the host and their possession of the national ‘homeland’ are asserted over new arrivals. These relationships are complicated further in the case of settler societies, such as New Zealand, where the role of host has been usurped by the settler community. Drawing on the analysis of interview data with young white New Zealanders, in this article I highlight the power relations of hospitality and draw attention to both the value and limitations of this discourse in making sense of relations of immigration in the longer term.

Being ‘at home’ in the nation: Hospitality and sovereignty in talk about immigration

Families, like trees, grow and develop with their surroundings. Seeds are blown by the wind and new trees are born elsewhere. Roots sink into the ground from which the new tree draws life. Children, like branches, stretch out. Families and trees have similar destinies (Ricciardi, cited in King, 1985:8). This paper discusses the origins and range of meanings attributed to the term ‘Pakeha’, and outlines my own perspective on the term. There are no definitive oral or written records about the exact origins of the term ‘Pakeha’ and despite some beliefs about it meaning ‘white pig’ or ‘bugger ya’, the term ‘Pakeha’ is probably not the insult that some believe is the case. Many New Zealanders appear to dislike the term which refers to a New Zealander of Caucasian descent, believing it to have negative connotations. However, there are also many who are not entirely sure of its exact meaning or origins. The purpose of this paper is to explore the various definitions and discuss deeper issues concerning ethnic identity that are involved in the concept of ‘Pakeha’ in today’s society. Before exploring the term ‘Pakeha’ it is important to define the term ‘Maori’. Defining ‘Maori’ allows for a reference point when discussing Pakeha, its origins and meaning in today’s society. In 1960, The Fern and the Tiki defined Maori as “the indigenous Polynesian inhabitant of New Zealand” (glossary). However, until about 1885, ‘Maori’ was still being defined as ‘usual or ordinary’. The Maori used the word to describe themselves, as opposed to the ‘different’, European settlers, during the nineteenth century, and the Europeans in turn adopted it. Before the time of the arrival of Europeans, Maori had no name for themselves as a nation, only a number of tribal names (Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities, 1985). King (1985:12), defines ‘Maori’ as a derivative “from ‘tangata maori’ meaning ‘ordinary people’ referring to the “descendants of the country’s first Polynesian immigrants”. He writes that the 65 Ranford ACE Papers ___________________________________________________________________________________________ term “Maori’ relates closely to ‘tangata whenua’: people of the land; but with connotations of ‘those who were here first’ and ‘host people’” (King, 1985:109). The English – Maori: Maori English Dictionary (Biggs, 1990), defines ‘Maori’ as “native, indigenous, ordinary”. Kiwi Words and Phrases (Campbell, 1999), defines ‘Maori’ as “indigenous people of New Zealand”. ‘Maori’ itself is not the primary term we (the Maori) use to describe ourselves (the Maori). We were, and are, a tribal peoples, we describe ourselves according to our tribal membership, rather than as a Maori. I am Maori only in relation to Pakeha. Maori means ‘normal’, i.e. in relation to Pakeha, ‘I am Maori’ (Himona. R, 1999). These definitions indicate that ‘Maori’ was adopted initially to enable a linguistic differentiation between the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa and the early European settlers, the Maori and the other. The definition of ‘Maori’ does not appear to have changed over time. However, the definition of the other, or ‘Pakeha’ has altered to some extent. Pakeha is in common usage, but many have difficulty in defining its meaning. From early records it is clear that the term was used in New Zealand before 1815 to mean ‘white person’. Initially a Pakeha was that person who came from England, and settled or worked in New Zealand. With time, Pakeha was the fair-skinned person who was born in New Zealand. Later the term was even more general. It was applied to all fair-skinned people in New Zealand, “no matter what their ancestry or place of birth” (Immigration Division, Department of Labour, 1985). By 1960, Pakeha was defined as “a person in New Zealand of predominantly European Ancestry” (Ausubel, 1960). The English – Maori: Maori – English Dictionary (Biggs, 1990), defines Pakeha as ‘white (person)’. Kiwi Words and Phrases (Campbell, 1999), defines Pakeha as a ‘non-maori person’. Mary-Ellen O’Connor defines Pakeha as ‘the dominant white race in New Zealand’. This would cover anybody of Anglo-Celtic origin (England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales) and, as the integrated, Northern Europeans (Scandinavians, Germans, and Dutch), white Americans, Canadians and South Africans’ (O’Connor, 1990). By 1985 a significant development occurs with the definition when King (1985:12), defines Pakeha as “denoting non-Maori New Zealanders”. There is nothing in the definition referring to colour. It is merely all those people who are of non-maori ACE Papers Ranford 66 __________________________________________________________________________________ descent. King’s definition of Pakeha is given weight when we define the term Maori as ‘normal’, that is to say that, in relation to Pakeha, I am Maori. It is merely the means by which the peoples of Aotearoa differentiate between the indigenous peoples and more recent arrivals, or the Maori and the other. There appears to be two emerging uses of the term. One approach continues the references to those with white skin colour while the more inclusive refers to all those who are non-maori appears to be gaining currency. My own definition of ‘Pakeha’ is influenced by Ross Himona’s definition. It just means a New Zealander of non-Maori and non-Polynesian heritage. He considers that ‘Pakeha’ is most used to describe white non-Maori, as they were the original colonists, but it can apply equally to Asian, etc. This definition of ‘Pakeha’ is the most expansive that I have found. It gives the term Pakeha a more inclusive and less pejorative tone. Although the term ‘Pakeha’ is sometimes understood perjoratively to mean ‘long pig’ and ‘white pig’, this is not the case. Many early missionaries and government officials spoke Maori reasonably well using ‘Pakeha’ to describe themselves. Given the politics of the 1860s it is unlikely that such Pakeha would have used the word themselves in a derogatory sense. (What does ‘Pakeha’ mean?, 1999, http: //www.jgeorge.com/ pakeha.htms). It has been argued that the term ‘Pakeha’ is derived from ‘pa –kea’, a long nosed bird that was often found in the pa. If this is compounded from indigenous Maori words then any attempt to analyse it must take into account Maori grammar and phonology. Pa-kea fails on both criteria. Pa-kea, pronounced paa-kea, has only one of the long vowels found in Pakeha, pronounced paakehaa (Biggs, 1988). In 1894 Hoani Nahe (Biggs, 1988), suggested that ‘Pakeha’ could be an abbreviation of ‘paakehakeha’, gods of the ocean who had the forms of fish and man. It is said that Nahe’s version was in response to Bishop W.L. Williams’ comment that ‘Pakeha’ seemed to be an abbreviation of pakepakeha. These creatures are mischievous, mythical, human-like beings, with fair skin and hair who lived deep in the forest, coming out only at night (Biggs, 1988). This theory is supported firstly by the idea 67 Ranford ACE Papers ___________________________________________________________________________________________ that white people, like the paakehakeha, came from the sea, and secondly because the word ‘paakehakeha’ contains a reduplication of the Maori word ‘keha’ meaning ‘pale’ (Biggs, 1988). However, paakehakeha, like pa-kea, has only one of the long vowels that can be found in ‘pakeha’, pronounced paakehaa. The most likely derivation seems to be from ‘pakepakeha’ (Goerge, 1999). The derivation of ‘Pakeha’ from ‘pakepakeha’ is given added weight when we consider that the first term used to describe Cook and his crew was ‘tipua’ or ‘tupua’, a goblin or a supernatural object of terror (George, 1999). The ‘pakepakeha’ are also linked to ‘patupaiarehe’ by their fair skin and hair. The ‘patupaiarehe’ had fair skin and beautiful voices, and gave people the secret of fishing with nets. These creatures possess canoes made of reeds, which can change magically into sailing vessels. The ‘patupaiarehe’ can also be linked to Nahe’s version of Pakeha as an abbreviation of ‘paakehakeha’, gods of the ocean who had the forms of fish and man (Biggs, 1988). It appears that the origins of the term ‘Pakeha’ are as numerous as are its meaning. I have been unable to find records, either written or oral, that can provide a single definition origin. This places the responsibility on individuals to draw conclusions about the origins of the word ‘Pakeha’. I accept the derivation of ‘Pakeha’ from ‘pakepakeha’ because it establishes a clear whakapapa, or genealogy of the term ‘pakeha’. Paakehakeha (gods of the ocean who had the forms of fish and man) Patupaiarehe (beings with fair skin and hair who gave people the secret of fishing with nets) Pakepakeha (mythical, human like being, with fair skin and hair who possessed canoes made of reeds which changed magically into sailing vessels) ACE Papers Ranford 68 __________________________________________________________________________________ Pakeha (originally referring to the early European settlers of New Zealand) These clear linkages give a poetic ‘truth’ to the term ‘pakeha’, each version associating ‘Pakeha’ with the ocean, which is after all, how immigrants have arrived in Aotearoa from Cook’s first voyage to present day. The term ‘Pakeha’ and its changes through time enables us to form an opinion about whether or not the Pakeha people are an ethnicity. Is any non-Maori person currently in New Zealand a Pakeha? If ethnic identification rests with the individual, it is a fluid concept and means that an individual can identify him or herself with an ethnic group of his or her own choosing. This involves self-classification. An example of this might be that I am really Pakeha but choose to be identified as a Maori, or Maori but decide to present myself as Pakeha. I alone decide what I am. However, if ethnicity is a category imposed by others in recognition of physical appearance and a shared history and culture, then can Pakeha really be a self classification. What is ethnicity

'Pakeha', Its Origin and Meaning

Bruce Biggs died in Auckland on October 18, 2000, a month after his seventy-ninth birthday. [1] He was a distinguished scholar. He was also that rarer thing, an exceptional builder of academic institutions. He made major contributions in several different fields. In academic Maori studies, he was the most important figure of the twentieth century. He developed, at Auckland, the first university program in the study of Maori language, culture, and literature, and trained the people who later went on to head similar programs at other New Zealand universities. He initiated the first program in modern linguistics at a New Zealand university. He instigated studies of ethnomusicology and the setting up of the magnificent Archive of Maori and Pacific Island Music at the University of Auckland. And he was a seminal contributer to Oceanic linguistics, the principal force behind the great efflorescence of Polynesian descriptive and historical linguistics in the 1960s and 1970s. Heroes are generally made by history. Men and women who achieve distinction and influence usually have the times moving with them; they are actors who excel on a stage ready-made by the turn of events. But every now and then, there comes along someone who harnesses energies too diffuse to be called a trend or movement, who builds his own stage and fills it with a company of players that he has trained himself, who has, to a certain extent, made history happen. Bruce Biggs, in his corner of the world, which roughly equaled the Polynesian Triangle, proved to be such a man. EARLY DAYS. Bruce was born in Auckland on September 4, 1921, the eldest child of Mary (nee Grandison) and Thomas Herbert ("Bert") Biggs. His sister, Patricia, was born two years later. Through his father, Bruce had Ngati Maniapoto blood, with connections to Te Keeti marae in Otorohanga. His father ran a hardware shop on Auckland's main street, and the family lived in New Lynn, then on the western fringe of Auckland city. He attended New Lynn Primary School and Mt. Albert Grammar School, where his contemporaries included Rob Muldoon (Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984) and his lifelong friend, Keith Sinclair, who became New Zealand's best known historian. It seems that Bruce's record as a high school student was uneven. He once told me that, in the national University Entrance exam for Latin, he scored eight percent. But he did not mention (I only learned this later from Keith Sinclair) that he gained the top mark in the nation in the English exam. Bruce gained an interest in Maori culture as a schoolboy during annual family holidays in Rotorua (he used to dive for tourist pennies with the Te Arawa children at the Whakarewarewa bridge), but he did not become a fluent speaker of Maori until after World War II. His lifelong interest in jazz and popular music was already evident at high school, where he played trumpet and founded the Boom Bali Boys dance band, popular around New Lynn in the late 1930s. He was a member of the Lifesavers' Club at Piha Beach. From school he went on to Auckland Teachers' College, qualifying as a teacher in 1940. During 1942-45, Bruce served as a sergeant (and bugler) in the New Zealand Second Expeditionary Force in Fiji. His job in communications gave him freedom to move around Viti Levu and to meet freely with Fijians. He made good use of this freedom to become fluent in Standard Fijian and to gather word lists, grammar notes, and legends in nonstandard dialects of western Viti Levu. Bruce's first two publications were an account of the Ba dialects of the Western Fijian language, and a short piece on Fijian riddles, both of which appeared in the Journal of the Polynesian Society in 1948. His long association with the Polynesian Society began during the War, when he met the editor, Clyde Taylor. Taylor assisted Bruce in his amateur ethnological studies in Fiji by lending him many books from his personal library. …

Bruce Biggs, 1921-2000: A Tribute

The word 'pakeha' : where it comes from, what it means

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The word 'pakeha' : where it comes from, what it means