Willa Black Prints · Te Reo Māori Glossary
A simple guide to Māori kupu and phrases that appear across Willa Black’s art prints, collections, and stories — created to help visitors connect more deeply with the meaning behind each piece.
Willa Black’s work often speaks to identity, ancestry, whenua, family, and the layered experience of Māori and mixed heritage. This glossary explains the Māori words used across the site in a warm, accessible way while keeping the page useful for search and browsing.
New Zealand; often rendered “land of the long white cloud”
The Māori name used for New Zealand, and a recurring anchor in Willa Black’s location, story, and design language.
Used in site copy: designed in Aotearoa.
Embrace me; support me; draw close
A gentle phrase of closeness and care, used as a limited-edition artwork title.
Used in product/collection title.
Posture dance; performance
A form of Māori performance often involving movement, voice, rhythm, and collective expression.
Appears in “kapa haka”.
Walk, march, journey
Can refer to a journey or protest march; used in New Zealand history-focused artwork language.
Used in artwork/framing copy.
A feminine name phrase evoking form, appearance, beauty, or essence
Used as part of an artwork title celebrating layered Māori, English, and Portuguese ancestry.
Used in portrait print title.
A treasured native bird; symbolically associated with prestige
The huia feather is referenced as a sign of nobility and leadership in artwork description.
Used in Ko Tēnei Au product copy.
Māori performing arts group/performance
A collective performing art expression involving waiata, haka, poi, movement, and identity.
Used in Poto does Kapa Haka.
Purpose, topic, principle, initiative
Often used to describe a guiding purpose or values-aligned reason behind a space, artwork, or action.
Used in Te Kahu product copy.
New Zealand popular culture icons
Not strictly a traditional Māori word, but commonly used in Aotearoa to describe nostalgic NZ cultural imagery.
Used as a shop category.
This is me
A declaration of identity, presence, and self — used as a major Willa Black artwork title.
Used in FAQ and product title.
This is the time
A phrase used as a prelude artwork title, suggesting timing, readiness, and presence.
Used in related Ko Tēnei Au copy.
Cloak
A treasured cloak; often symbolically linked with protection, mana, leadership, and care.
Used in art image/product descriptions.
Word; words
A helpful term for referring to Māori vocabulary and the language held within the art.
Recommended for this glossary page copy.
A figure from Māori narrative
Referenced through the artwork “Kuru — The Bird Woman”, connected to mythology, protection, and mana wahine.
Used in artwork title and description.
The authority, strength, and prestige of women
A concept that centres the power, dignity, leadership, and lived experience of wāhine Māori.
Used in Kuru product copy.
Indigenous people and language of Aotearoa New Zealand
Used throughout the site to describe cultural inspiration, identity, artwork, and te reo Māori language.
Used across collection, product, and blog pages.
Traditional Māori tattooing/designs
Moko can carry identity, whakapapa, status, and cultural meaning.
Used in “moko kauae”.
Traditional chin moko, especially worn by wāhine Māori
Referenced in Willa Black portrait artwork as a sacred mark of whakapapa, womanhood, identity, and strength.
Used in Ko Tēnei Au product copy.
Whale Island
A place name used in New Zealand landscape artwork and product listings.
Used in landscape print titles.
Greenstone; nephrite jade
A treasured stone associated with connection, adornment, ancestry, and place.
Used in Ko Tēnei Au product copy.
Auckland volcanic island place name
A well-known maunga/island in Tāmaki Makaurau, used in Willa Black landscape artwork.
Used in product listing.
Children
Used to describe young people growing confidently within identity, culture, and belonging.
Used in Poto does Kapa Haka copy.
Treasure; treasured thing
A word for something precious, valued, or culturally significant.
Used in Te Kahu product copy.
The Māori world; Māori worldview
A way of referring to Māori knowledge, values, language, relationships, and ways of seeing the world.
Used in collection/product copy.
The black world / world of black
Used as a Willa Black collection name, aligning with the brand’s monochrome, contemporary visual language.
Used as collection title.
The universe
Appears in the Willa Black quote: “Aotearoa is the home of thy body, but Te Ao Tukupū is the home of thy mind.”
Used in site footer quote.
The cloak; also “the harrier hawk” depending on context
Used as a limited-edition artwork title. The site frames it around identity, strength, belonging, and heritage.
Used in product title.
Piha place name
A west coast Auckland place name connected to Lion Rock/Piha landscape artwork.
Used in product/image copy.
The Māori language
The language that carries many of the words, titles, and concepts used across Willa Black’s Māori-inspired art.
Used in copy around learning and glossary context.
Woman / women
Used in portrait and artwork descriptions celebrating female strength, beauty, and identity.
Used in artwork descriptions.
Song; chant
A song or chant; used in relation to “Whakaaria Mai”.
Used in waiata art print title.
Place name; associated with Te Tiriti o Waitangi
A nationally significant place name that appears in New Zealand history artwork context.
Used in Hīkoi to Waitangi artwork copy.
Show / reveal to me
Known as a waiata/hymn title and used as an art print title.
Used in Māori waiata art print title.
Genealogy; lineage; layers of connection
A central Māori concept of ancestry and relational connection, often used in Willa Black copy about identity and heritage.
Used in Māori collection and product copy.
Family; extended family
Family in a broad, relational sense, often extending beyond a nuclear household.
Used in Poto does Kapa Haka copy.
Meeting house
A large carved meeting house, often central to marae life, storytelling, and community gathering.
Used in line art product title.
Land; placenta
A deeply layered word connecting land, belonging, origins, and life.
Used in collection and product copy.
Use this glossary as a companion page for Māori art print collections, product pages, and storytelling content.
