poka

poka is at its core is anything, either an object or location, that is nearby or to the side of something else. This could be the space next to someone, or at the side of someone, such as the lefthand side of a walking person. But this can also be part of an object, such as someone's hips or a car door. Extended into the metaphorical space, poka becomes extremely useful for talking about relationships. toki ponists tend to place people and objects they have relationships with in proximity with them, so one might describe a friend as poka and a loose acquaintance as not poka. two things don't have to be physically next to each other in order to be "lon poka." my uncles live in aotearoa and I live in the USA on either Dakota or Lenape land depending on the time of year, but I would still describe our relationship using poka despite the physical displacement.