Learn Maori

Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, means ‘land of the long white cloud’.

We borrow the word 'kiwi' from Maori.

Maori has two sets of possessive words, for example, 'my' is either 'tāku' or 'tōku'. The difference is that the first is used with things that we can control according to the Maori world view: children, husbands, wives, machines not used for transport, pets, money, tools, food, actions. And the other is used with things beyond our control: parents, siblings, friends, lovers (not spouses), feelings, transport, shelter, buildings, medicine, clothes and parts of the body.