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Article: Grab Your Swannies & Jandals for a Cracker Day.(many words and names in New Zealand were influenced by Maori or British phrases)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Faces: People, Places, and Cultures
- Article date:
- January 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Today the Maori account for about 10 percent of New Zealand's population, and some of their words are commonly used among all the people. For example, Maori ("belonging to this place") is what New Zealand's indigenous people are called today. Pakeha ("white person" or "stranger") is the term used to describe residents of European or other non-Maori descent. Kiwi is the Maori name for a flightless bird with a long beak. The word Kiwi now stands for the bird as well as the nickname for any person from New Zealand. Kiwi fruit used to be called Chinese gooseberry before it became one of New Zealand's main export crops.
When the Dutch sea captain Abel Tasman sighted ...