The word "Pākehā" is not a racist insult. Pākehā does not mean "pig". ... Pākehā is just a noun.

What does Pakeha mean literally?

Analysis. Historians and language experts agree that the original meaning of the word Pākehā is most likely to be 'pale, imaginary beings resembling men', referring to a sea-dwelling, godlike people in Māori mythology. It has been used to describe Europeans, and then New Zealanders of European descent since before 1815 ...

What do the Maori people call themselves?

The Māori used the term Māori to describe themselves in a pan-tribal sense. Māori people often use the term tangata whenua (literally, "people of the land") to identify in a way that expresses their relationship with a particular area of land; a tribe may be the tangata whenua in one area, but not in another.