The Marae

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The building which I have researched from the oceanic region that was constructed before the 1900s is the New Zealand Maori Marae.

The Marae is usually described as a sacred open meeting area, a communal meeting house, an area of greatest mana, the place where Maori god is worshipped, a place where Maori belief and culture is displayed.

The Turangawaewae marae, at Ngaruawahua. When it was established, it fulfilled a saying from tawhiao, the second Maori king. The king had refered the ngaruawahia as his turangawaewae (footstool). Since then, this idea has been expanded, and people from many tribes speak of their marae as their turangawaewae, meaning a place to stand.

The meeting house of the nineteenth century was developed from the earlier whare puni (sleeping house) and chief’s house. Unlike western buildings, which are generally built from the foundation first, the buildings that were built by the maori started from the top then bottom. One of the reason that it was built in this manner so It reflect the social hierarchy of the people, starting with gods and ancestors at the top.

The meeting houses were also like an upturned boat with poles supporting them. There are strong similarities between waka and the meeting houses. The house’s central internal support pole, or poles, could be interpreted as the upturned mast of a sailing waka. Both prow carving and door lintels feature open workspirals, representing the entry of light and enlightment into the world. The continuous piece of wood, which is the waka’s watertight hull and the ridgepole of a meeting house, are both generally thought of as representing an ancestor’s backbone and kowhaiwhai (scroll) painted rafters were a development of kowhaiwhai painted paddles. so...

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...chael King. Nga Iwi O Te Motu. Reed. Auckland 2001

Banks and Beaglehole, TheEndeavour Journal of Joseph Banks : 1768-1771.

Lowe, David J. "Polynesian settlement of New Zealand and the impacts of volcanism on early Maori society: an update" (November 2008)

Cook and Beaglehole, The Journals : Of Captain James Cook on His Voyages. Cook.

Historical Frictions. M. Belgrave

Parkinson, Kenrick, and Parkinson, A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in His Majesty's Ship, the Endeavour.

V O'Malley. The Meeting Place. Auckland University Press. 2012

Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand. New Zealand: Penguin Books. (2003).

James Belich, The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict. Auckland, N.Z., Penguin.1986.

"The Story of the Modern Marae," Te Ao Hou=The New World 1952

E Burke Climates of War. Hazard Press. 2005

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