This collection contains over 2500 'pepeha', or 'sayings of the ancestors', that were gathered and compiled from all over New Zealand over a 20-year period. More than just proverbs, 'pepeha' include charms, witticisms, figures of speech, and boasts, and they are featured in the formal speeches heard every day on the 'marae' and in the oral literature handed down from past generations. These expressions provide a rich source of vocabulary, using metaphor and an economy of words to show language that enriches the Maori of today.

Shortlisted for Nga Kupu Ora Maori Book of the Decade 2009.

"It is rich reading for the variety and poetry of sayings, the cultural philosophy and tribal history they encapsulate, and the relevance of past words to the present." - Jane McRae, "NZ Books"

Hirini Moko Mead (Ngati Awa) is a prominent writer and commentator who was instrumental in establishing the Maori tertiary institution Te Whare Wanaga o Awanui-a-rangi in Whakatane. He also served as a professor of Maori studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Neil Grove retired in 1972 from a distinguished career in the U.S. Army. He also served as secretary to the Anglican Diocese in Wellington, New Zealand, and his research in Maori proverbs continued until his death in 1999.