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Story: Māori feasts and ceremonial eating – hākari

Kīngitanga poukai visits, 2010

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Kīngitanga poukai visits, 2010

Poukai (an annual circuit of visits to marae) have been held since the 1880s and were set up by King Tāwhiao. He said, 'Kua whakatuuria e ahau teenei kaupapa hei whaangai i te pouaru, te pani me te rawakore, he kuaha whaanui kua puare ki te puna tangata me te puna kai' (I have instituted this gathering to feed the widowed, the bereaved and the destitute; it is a doorway that has been opened to the multitudes of people and the bounty of food). This map shows the poukai marae that were visited over a single year in 2010.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Te tumu korero. Ngaruawahia: Turongo House, 1983

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How to cite this page

Basil Keane, Māori feasts and ceremonial eating – hākari – 19th-century hākari, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/40558/kingitanga-poukai-visits-2010 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 5 February 2013.