Te ingoa o te whenua nei
Nā tētahi kaimātai mahere whenua nō Hōrano pea te ingoa New Zealand i tapa, whai muri i te taunga mai o te kaihōpara a Abel Tasman i te tau 1642. Koia te Pākehā tuatahi kia tae ki Aotearoa. I tērā wā, mōhiotia ai a Ahitereiria ko Hōrano Hōu (New Holland). Nā reira ka tapaina a Aotearoa ko Zeeland, tērā atu o ngā porowini matua o Hōrano.
Ko te ingoa nui a te Māori mō tēnei whenua ko Aotearoa. Ko te kōrero a ētahi, nā Kupe i tapa te ingoa o Aotearoa; heoi, nō te paunga o te rau tau atu i 1800, ka whānui te whakahuatia o taua ingoa. He ingoa atu anō ō te Māori mō ngā motu nui e rua, arā, ko Te Ika-a-Māui me Te Wai Pounamu.
Kirirarau o Aotearoa
Nā te ture British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship (1948) ka tū te kirirarau o Aotearoa. Nō te tau 1977 rā anō unuhia ai ngā kupu ‘kirirarau Peretānia’ i ngā uruuruwhenua o Aotearoa.
Tata ki te katoa o ngā tāngata i whānau mai ki Aotearoa, he kirirarau nō Aotearoa. Whai muri i ētahi whakamātautau noho, whakamātau mō te reo Ingarihi, ka āhei ngā manene te tono mō te kiriraraunga.
Te haki o Aotearoa
Kei tētahi wāhi o te haki o Aotearoa, ko te tohu o te tieki o Ingarangi, kei tētahi taha ko ngā whetū whero e whā, he tohu mō te Taki o Autahi (Southern Cross), he tātai whetū kei te rangi – he whero te tae o ngā whetū, e whā ngā mata o ia whetū. He kikorangi te tae o muri.
I tauirahia mai tēnei haki i te haki kikorangi o Peretānia o te tau 1869. Nō te tau 1902 ka whakamanatia te haki hei kapa mō Aotearoa.
Te waitohu o Aotearoa
Nō te tau 1911 ka puta te waitohu o Aotearoa, ā, nō te tau 1956 ka whakaritea. Ka whakaatatia e te waitohu te wāhi nui ki Aotearoa o ngā hokohoko ki-taio, te ahuwhenua me te keri manawa whenua.
Ngaringari a te motu
E rua ngā ngaringari ā-motu o Aotearoa. I te tau 1840 ka tīmata te waiata i a, ‘God save the Queen (King rānei)’. Nō te tau 1940 ka tīmata te whakamahinga o ‘God defend New Zealand’ hei ngaringari ā-motu, ā, i te tau 1977 ka whakamanahia tērā waiata kia rite ki ‘God Save the Queen’. Ka waiatatia he whiti Māori i mua i te whiti Pākehā.
‘Āta whakarongona’
I te tau 1940 ka hokona e te kāwanatanga te manatārua o ‘God defend New Zealand’ - nā Thomas Bracken i tito – mai i tētahi kamupene oro o Ōtepoti. Whāia, ka whakamanahia tēnei waiata hei ngaringari ā-motu tuarua. Nō ngā tau whakamutunga o te rau tau atu i 1900, ka whakamahia whānuitia ko tēnei o ngā ngaringari ā-motu, hauwarea te waiata ā-motu o Ingarangi, a ‘God save the King’. He nui ngā pātai mō tētahi wāhanga o te ngaringari ā-motu, arā, ngā kupu e mea ana ‘guard Pacific’s triple star’. Ko tētahi whakamārama e mea ana, e pā ana tēnei kōrero ki ngā moutere nui e toru o Aotearoa.
Ngā reo ā-ture
E rua ngā reo ā-ture o Aotearoa, ko te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori. Nō te tau 1987 ka whakaturehia te reo Māori hei reo mō tēnei motu. I te tau 2004 i te whiriwhiria te reo rotarota hei reo ā-ture tuatoru mō Aotearoa.
Ngā hararei ā-motu
E rua ngā rā hararei ka pā ki te tuakiri o te motu. Hei whakanui i te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840, ka whakanuia te rā o Waitangi ia tau i te 6 o ngā rā o Pēpuere. Mai anō i te tau 1974 kua tū tēnei rā hei hararei ā-motu. Ko tētahi atu rā hararei ko 25 o Āperira, te rā o ANZAC, he whakamaumaharatanga ki ngā hōia o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i tau ki Karipori, kei te taha uru o Whenua Korukoru, i te tau 1915.
Ahakoa noho wehe ai ngā hāhi i te kāwanatanga, tū tonu ai ngā rā o te Āranga me te Kirihimete hei hararei whānui. Ko ngā hararei noa, ko te rā o Reipa, te rā whānau o te Kuini o Ingarangi, tae atu ki ngā rā huritau o ngā porowini. Ka tū ngā rā hararei a ngā porowini i te rā, i te takiwā rānei o te rā i hua mai ai taua porowini.
Te taonga kāmehameha o te pāua
He kai nui te pāua (Haliotis iris, he whanaunga ki te pāua o te raki o te Pacific) ki te Māori. I ēnei rā, manakotia ai te pāua e te tini me te mano, hokona ai te ngako ki tāwāhi. He mea nui ki te Māori ngā tae o te anga pāua hei hoahoa i ngā whakairo (mō ngā kanohi o ngā poupou i te wharenui), hei taonga tuku, hei kahurangi rānei.
Te kararehe me te pua ā-motu
Ahakoa kāore ōna tūranga hei tohu whai mana, ka tū te kiwi hei tohu mō Aotearoa. Karekau he putiputi nui o Aotearoa; heoi, he tohu nui te rarauhe hiriwa (kāore i whakamanahia ā-turetia) mō Aotearoa, e mau ana ki ngā kākahu o ngā hōia me ngā rōpū hākinakina. Ko ētahi atu tohu ā-motu noa, ko te pōhutukawa me te kōwhai.
Ngā taonga noa ki Aotearoa)
Kīia ai ngā mea noa e whai wāhi nui ana ki a Aotearoa, he ‘kiwiana’. Ko ētahi o ēnei momo taonga ko ngā kamupūtu pango, te taputapu ngahau a te Buzzy Bee, te purini pavlova, te tiki kirihou, ngā ipu pungarehu pāua, ngā kōtiro rangatū me ngā okouku o te rerewē.
