Story: Māori housing – te noho whare

Pā in Queen Charlotte Sound, 1780s (2nd of 3)

Pā in Queen Charlotte Sound, 1780s

This painting shows the interior of a located in Queen Charlotte Sound in the early 1780s. It shows the use of both timber and thatch in the construction of wharepuni (sleeping houses) and features buildings of different sizes. Larger dwellings often signalled higher social status; the one on the left may have been occupied by a chief and his family.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: B-098-011
Hand-coloured engraving after a drawing by John Webber

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:

Ben Schrader, 'Māori housing – te noho whare - Wharepuni to European house', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/40340/pa-in-queen-charlotte-sound-1780s (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Ben Schrader, published 5 Sep 2013