Culture of New Zealand: Encyclopedia II - Culture of New Zealand - Kiwi

Culture of New Zealand - Kiwi

Culture of New Zealand - The word

Kiwi (usually capitalised) has been applied to and adopted by New Zealanders as a nickname for themselves and as an adjective for their culture. It originates from kiwi (usually uncapitalised), the Māori word for several species of a flightless bird endemic to New Zealand. The plural form for New Zealanders is always Kiwis. The plural forms for the birds are the anglicised kiwis or, following the Māori language, kiwi without an s.

Kiwi (bird) logos are often associated with New Zealand military forces and New Zealand goods. The association probably originated during WWI when the ANZACS of Australia and New Zealand introduced Kiwi shoe polish to the allied trenches. It was widely used by British and American armies during that war.

The New Zealand dollar is often called the Kiwi dollar (or just the Kiwi) and the bird's image appears on both the 20 cent and one dollar coins.

Non-New Zealanders sometimes use the word Kiwi to refer to the kiwifruit, also known as the Chinese Gooseberry. New Zealanders generally use the full term to refer to the fruit.

Culture of New Zealand - Kiwiana

Items and icons from New Zealand's cultural heritage are often called Kiwiana. The word "Kiwiana" originated in 1956. It was registered as a trademark in 1980, but the originator did not complete the registration which left the name to become available for general use in New Zealand.

Well-known kiwiana include:

• All Blacks — national Rugby Union team
• Black singlet — worn by many farmers, shearers as well as representative athletes
• Buzzy Bee — child's toy
• Chocolate fish — pretty self evident, really.
• Clayton's — originally a non alcoholic spirit, advertised as The drink you have when you're not having a drink, that did not gain market acceptance; now refers to any form of inferior substitute. This term is primarily used among those generations old enough to remember the original drink.
• Gumboots, calf length rubber boots, (designed to be puddle and cow-pat proof, not for fetishists).
• Kiwi — native bird; its stylised image or shape frequently appears on things associated with New Zealand
• Kiwifruit — fruit from a vine originating in China but selectively bred by New Zealand horticulturalists to obtain egg-sized fruit with green or gold flesh
• L&P — Lemon & Paeroa, a popular soft drink
• Paua — the polished shell of the native paua (abalone) shellfish, turned into jewellery, souvenirs, just about anything. Once considered kitsch, it is starting to regain its popularity
• Silver fern — native plant; its stylised image or shape is displayed by many of the national sports teams
• Tiki — Māori icon, often worn as a necklace pendant. Tourist variety in green plastic are the definitively tasteless depths of kiwiana kitsch.
• Footrot Flats — popular cartoon strip by Murray Ball
• Jandals — beach footwear with a bit of sole but very little else.

There are Kiwiana sections in many New Zealand museums, and some are dedicated to showing Kiwiana only.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Kiwi", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki