Discovering your pepeha: creating a stronger connection with your whānau, whenua and hapori

Despite not coming from a Māori household, 25-year-old Alanah Hight-Johnson, Member Support Adviser at MAS was speaking te reo Māori when she was just five years old. 

Immersed in te reo Māori from the age of five

As a new entrant to Raglan Area School, Alanah and her family were approached by the school and asked if she wanted to join a bilingual unit to learn in both English and te reo. 

"I entered into an immersion unit at five not knowing any te reo Māori. From ages five to 13 all my school learning was done in te reo Māori. I went on to get my degree at Victoria University of Wellington in te reo as well," Alanah says. 

"I grew up in Raglan and Gisborne, both very small communities that celebrated Māori culture. It was normal to spend your weekends on the marae – any event or tangi was held at the marae. I grew up fully immersed in the culture."

Tracking down her family history

Alanah needed to know her pepeha for her schooling, so she began by researching her family history, as she had no Māori whakapapa. 

A pepeha is a way to introduce yourself in Māori and tell people who you are by sharing your connections with the people and places that are important to you including your maunga (mountain), awa (river) and marae. 

"I hunted down what ship my ancestors came to New Zealand on and went about tracking down my family history. Anyone can do this and I'd encourage people to look into it; it's super interesting. 

"Then one of my Māori teachers who was a kuia on the marae advised my sister and I that if we felt comfortable, we were free to use the marae whakapapa. This wasn't something I ever assumed we could use for our pepeha, so it was awesome she gave us that option," she says. 

Since finding out her pepeha, Alanah feels more connected to and proud of where she comes from. 

"Having a connection to the mountains is not something you hear people talking about in everyday New Zealand culture; it's special. It creates a sense of belonging and connection with the whenua or land," she says.

Incorporating te reo Māori into your day-to-day life

Alanah has since moved to Wellington and says she sometimes struggles with the lack of Māori culture present in the capital city compared with Raglan or Gisborne.

She tries to include te reo Māori in her everyday life and says her colleagues at MAS try to show appreciation for the Māori language in simple ways like greeting people in te reo. 

"What we've started doing at MAS is a really easy way to bring te reo Māori into day-to-day life. Using 'kia ora' and ngā mihi’ when we're talking to each other and with our Members is a small thing but it makes such a big difference, and shows acceptance and appreciation of te reo Māori," she says. 

Alanah advises anyone interested in discovering their pepeha or incorporating more te reo Māori in their life to give it a go and don't be afraid about not getting it right every time. 

"Doing your pepeha is just genealogy and there are lots of websites available now to help you. Or if you're lucky enough to have grandparents still around, sit down with them; ask them questions. There's so much you can find out about yourself and your heritage by having these conversations and if you don't find it, you might lose it," she says.