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Story: Papatūānuku – the land

Tamatekapua whare rūnanga (meeting house)

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Tamatekapua whare rūnanga (meeting house)

Chiefs sometimes reserved land by naming it after parts of their body. Tamatekapua, the captain of the Te Arawa migratory canoe, claimed the Ōkūrei peninsula (Te Kūreitanga-o-te-ihu-o-Tamatekapua, in full) at Maketū by comparing it to the bridge of his nose. This whare rūnanga (meeting house) at Ōhinemutu, Rotorua, is named after Tamatekapua.

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Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki

by Josiah Martin

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How to cite this page

Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, Papatūānuku – the land – Birth from the earth – being indigenous, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11457/tamatekapua-whare-runanga-meeting-house (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, published 1 March 2009.