This diagram illustrates how whakapapa given by Āperahama Taonui can be likened to a wharenui (meeting house). The tekoteko is long, but tends to show a single line of more important ancestors. The maihi (barge boards) widen as they descend, as whakapapa widens out to include a number of ancestors in the same generation. As the whakapapa comes closer to the time of Āperahama it widens out to include a large number of descendants, symbolised by the main body of the meeting house.
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