whakapapa
Ancestral connection system
Whakapapa is the Māori concept of genealogy and ancestral lineage, encompassing not just family trees but the interconnected descent of all living things from the gods.
It establishes identity, tribal affiliation, and rights to land and resources in Māori culture.
More broadly, whakapapa can mean the layered history or origins of anything: the whakapapa of this river, understanding the whakapapa of the conflict.
The word functions as both noun and verb—to whakapapa is to recite or trace these connections.
Chart of ancestors
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- descendantsThose who come after
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
pedigree · forebears · progenitors · kinship · offspring · progeny · forefathers · foremothers
Indigenous name for NZ
- manaSupernatural indwelling power
- tapuSacred restriction, Polynesian
- wakaMāori boat or verse form
- Treaty of WaitangiBritain-Māori colonial compact
State of fitting in
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- connectionA joining or relation
- originStarting point or source
selfhood · authenticity · personhood · ancestry · cultural identity · kinship ties · place · storytelling
Making something exist
- origin storiesNarratives explaining initial creation
- interconnectionMutual joining of parts
- natural worldNon-artificial environment and organisms
- landEarth's solid surface
sea · sky · elemental · cosmic order
family tree
Chart of ancestors
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- descendantsThose who come after
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
lineage · pedigree · forebears · progenitors · kinship · offspring · progeny · forefathers · foremothers · clan
Aotearoa
Indigenous name for NZ
belonging
State of fitting in
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- connectionA joining or relation
origin · selfhood · authenticity · personhood · ancestry · cultural identity · kinship ties · place · storytelling · oral tradition
creation
Making something exist
- origin storiesNarratives explaining initial creation
- interconnectionMutual joining of parts
- natural worldNon-artificial environment and organisms
land · sea · sky · elemental · cosmic order
- New ZealandAuckland, Wellington, Air New Zealand, Kiwis, Christchurch
- ancestryancestors, kinship, ancestor, clan, ancestry
- genealogyfamily trees, family history, descendants, ancestors, ancestry tracing
- Maori heritageAotearoa, Maori, mana, pa, tapu
- Pacific Literatureindigenous voices, seafaring tales
- Maori culturemana, tapu, whanaungatanga, waka, mere
whakapapadisconnection
State of being severed
rootlessness · alienation · isolation · severance · anomie
whakapapaderacination
Uprooting from origins
forgetting · cultural amnesia · orphanhood · tabula rasa · assimilation
whakapapaindividualism
Doctrine of personal independence
atomism · fragmentation · colonialism · nuclear family · reductionism