NZ/European/Pakeha?

During last week's lecture on "Pakehaness" I began to wonder; what is it to be Pakeha? who can call who Pakeha? Is it derogatory? Does have similar aspects as stereotyping? Do i refer to myself as Pakeha?

Since I was first taught about New Zealand's history and events leading up to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 (when I was about 11 years old) I had the basic understanding that Maori were the indigenous people of New Zealand, and Pakeha were not. As I am not Maori I figured that made me Pakeha. Once my knowledge on the colonialisation of NZ expanded so did my opinions. I came to realise that whatever way you frame it Pakeha took thing from Maori that they shouldn't have and so in this respect they are seen as the "baddies". So after this I didn't really fancy the idea of categorising myself as Pakeha, because along with that term I associated negative connotations like being deceptive and taking what isn;t rightfully yours- all because of it's association with the events pre and post treaty.

Also I think the term Pakeha can be somewhat offensive in the way that it essentially creates a category for which to put every ambiguous white person living in New Zealand into. It is not a race as such, it is a term used to describe people with white skin from a variety of cultures who live in NZ and are not Maori or any other obvious culture. The fact that it is a non-english word given to english speaking people that they didn't really have a say over, is borderline stereotyping. i think this is also a key aspect as to why not so many people would refer to themselves as pakeha.

Wondering if I was being harsh i turned to my friends and family to ask them if they referred to themselves as pakeha. 7 out of the 10 i asked said that they were "kiwis". upon asking them why they didn't call themselves pakeha, the response was along the lines of "that would be something maori would call me". this is in support of the idea that what people are expecting is that we adopt a word, not from english language, and that english speakers were given by another race, to define themselves and their identity. is it not an odd request?

I don't go around calling myself a Pakeha woman, I more prefer the term "kiwi gal". I know what Pakeha means, and i recognise some logic and consistency with the term but i will not often refer to myself as pakeha unless I am filling out a form in which it requires me to tick the NZ/Pakeha box to describe my nationality. it's not because i'm racist, or highly strung, it's because being a kiwi is what i identify with. and with the increasing amount of mixed race people in NZ i think it is the term that most will head towards using. it is general yes, but it also pertains to a nz kind of lifestyle, it has that general sense of national unity- anyone living in NZ for an extended period of time can call themselves a kiwi and that is why it is cool. 'kiwi' caters to all nationalities living in NZ and that's why i think it more appropriate for our nation today. with treaty principles and establishments like the waitangi tribunal still reminding us of the unfairness and separation of the past that is still relevant in society today, i think it is nice that we can look to one term "kiwi" to bring us all back together.

My ethinicity is Fijian and Welsh, and I am Kiwi.