This poupou (carving), from Tamatekapua meeting house, Ōhinemutu, shows the Te Arawa ancestor Tamatekapua walking on stilts. He used stilts to steal fruit belonging to the chief Uenuku in Hawaiki (the homeland). Uenuku's resulting anger was one reason Tamatekapua decided to leave Hawaiki and come to New Zealand on Te Arawa canoe.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Burton Brothers Collection
Reference:
PA7-05-36
Photograph by Burton Brothers
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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