Nga Pepeha a Nga Tipuna: The Sayings of the Ancestors

Nga Pepeha a nga Tipuna is a collection of more than 2500 'sayings of the ancestors'. Neil Grove and Hirini M Mead spent more than twenty years collecting and compiling these pepeha from all over New Zealand - inviting comment and contributions from all who read and used their early volumes.Pepeha are not just proverbs; the term includes charms, witticisms, figures of speech and boasts. Neither are they historical relics; they feature in the formal speeches heard every day on the marae, and in the oral literature handed down from past generations. The pepeha also provide a rich source of language. Their use of metaphor and their economy of words show language that enriches the textbook Maori of today.