Wharenui

Common card · No. 316710

A wharenui ([ˈɸaɾɛnʉ.i]; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a marae. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called whare (a more generic term simply referring to any house or building). Also called a whare rūnanga ("meeting house") or whare whakairo (literally "carved house"), the present style of wharenui originated in the early to middle nineteenth century. The houses are often carved inside and out with stylised images of the iwi's (or tribe's) ancestors, with the style used for the whakairo (carvings) varying from tribe to tribe. Modern meeting houses are built to regular building standards. Photographs of recent ancestors, as well as carvings, may be used. The houses always have names, sometimes the name of a famous ancestor or sometimes a figure from Māori mythology. Some meeting houses are built at places that are not the location of a tribe, but where many...

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