Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au.
“I am the river, and the river is me.”
A person's identity can be inseparable from their ancestral river or land, each sustaining and reflecting the other.
— Traditional New Zealand Wisdom, New Zealand
Source: Traditional Māori whakataukī of the Whanganui iwi, public-domain oral tradition
More Proverbs from New Zealand
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.
Above all else, people and human relationships are what matter most.
Traditional New Zealand Wisdom
Read more →
Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.
Pursue your highest goals, and compromise only for something truly worthwhile.
Traditional New Zealand Wisdom
Read more →
We are all in this canoe together, without exception.
Everyone is in the same situation and must work together toward a common purpose.
Traditional New Zealand Wisdom
Read more →
Walking backwards into the future.
We look to the lessons of the past to guide our steps into the future.
Traditional New Zealand Wisdom
Read more →
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive.
When everyone contributes what they have, the whole community prospers.
Traditional New Zealand Wisdom
Read more →
The person who stands lives; the person who sits perishes.
An active, striving person thrives, while the idle one falls behind.
Traditional New Zealand Wisdom
Read more →