copper maori

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

This spelling has been influenced bythe English word Copper, but it is really a corruptionof a Maori word. There is a difference of opinion amongstMaori scholars what this word is. Some say Kapura, acommon fire used for cooking, in contradistinction to a`chief's fire,' at which he sat, and which would not be allowedto be defiled with food. Others say Kopa. The Maoriword Kopa was (1) adj. meaning bent, (2)n. angle or corner, and (3) the nativeoven, or more strictly the hole scooped out for the oven.


1888. T. Pine, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' `Alocal tradition of Raukawa,' vol. xxi. p. 417:

«So they set to work and dug holes on the flat, each hole about2 ft. across and about 1 1/2 ft. deep, and shaped somethinglike a Kopa Maori.»

1889. H. D. M. Haszard, ibid. `Notes on some Relics ofCannibalism,' vol. xxii. p. 104:

«In two distinct places, about four chains apart, there were anumber of Kapura Maori, or native ovens, scattered aboutwithin a radius of about forty feet.»

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

← copper-head   ×   coprosma →

Related Words