Proverbs in Native Life, with Special Reference to Those of the Maori, I

To Be at One with the Land: Māori Spirituality Predicts Greater Environmental Regard

“…Without careful resource management, the land may lose its mauri and its ability to sustain the people. Indeed, land is the life of Māori; it tells the story of Māori (Firth 1926). Through the relationship between the land and the people, Māori are able to establish their sense of spiritual connection, self-determination and identity.…”

<em>Peacemaking and Proverbs in Urhobo and Yoruba Marital Conflicts: Part 1</em>

“…The meaning of a proverb is made clear only when a full account of the accompanying social situation is given side by side with the translation-the reason for its use, its effect, and its significance (Firth 1926). Writing about the identity of the proverb, Ruth Finnegan observes that "the proverb is a saying in more or less a fixed form, marked by shortness, sense and salt and distinguished by the popular acceptance of the truth expressed in it" (1970: 393).…”

Mokena and Macaulay

“…Firth's 1926 articles on 'Proverbs in Native Life' argued that the citation and repetition of proverbs in Māori rhetoric served as 'an enforcement of social conduct', in which 'the precise words' operated as 'a means of praise, reproach, and stimulation'. 33 In the case of Kō here's use of Macaulay, it is also Pākehā social conduct that is being enforced. The poem makes sense within Māori epistemology, but citing it in the original English serves as a reminder to both Pākehā and Māori interlocutors that it is also European tradition that claims to value these aspirations.…”