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Story: Whānau – Māori and family

Kāinga

Image
Kāinga

This 1848 sketch shows a kāinga (village) at Ōpita, Thames. Historically a kāinga would comprise a number of whānau groups.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-143-015

by Joseph Jenner Merrett

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Tai Walker, Whānau – Māori and family – Contemporary understandings of whānau, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/30136/kainga (accessed 23 June 2026).

Story by Tai Walker, published 3 May 2011, updated 1 June 2017.