He wā anō ka huri, ka rerekē ngā kupu mō ngā momo

reo katoa. Ko taku tūtohinga rangahau e pā ana ki ētahi

kōrero tuku iho a Ngāti Porou i tērā atu rau tau, te tekau

mā iwa, e pā ana kite anga rangahau o te kōrero ā-waha,

o te kōrero ā-tuhituhi hoki. Ko te āhua o tēnei rangahau

he tātari i te āhua i huria ai te whakamārama o aua momo

kupu. Hāngai tonu ki ngā kupu i tangohia ake, i hurihia

ake e te Pākehā hei whakamārama i te āhua i uru ai a

Ngāti Porou ki roto i ngā pakanga o aua tau 1860s. Ko

tēnei pepa e pā ana ki te āhua o roto i taku tūtohinga e

kōrero ana mō ngā whakamārama o te kupu kūpapa. E

whakapae ana au kia tirohia anō te whakamārama o te

kupu nei kūpapa i te mea hoki e rere ana te kōrero ko ngā

rangatira Māori i whawhai ki te taha o te Pākehā, i

maukinotia e rātau te Māori.

All languages change over time. Similarly the meaning

of words can and do undergo change. My doctoral

research was concerned with the history of Ngāti Porou

during the nineteenth century and based on a research

methodology, which combined corroborated oral

traditions and the historical documentary record. The

study necessitated some comment about semantic change

in Māori words. In particular those words appropriated

by Pākehā to describe Ngāti Porou participation in the

wars of the 1860s. This paper is derived from a discussion

in the thesis about the change of meaning undergone by

the term kūpapa. It advocates revisions to the existing

interpretation of kūpapa and has been prompted by recent

suggestions that Māori leaders, who fought alongside

Pākehā, were somehow traitors to a Māori cause (Soutar,

2000:18-25).