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Story: Whakairo – Māori carving

Ruatepupuke II meeting house

Ruatepupuke II meeting house

Ruatepupuke II is the only whare whakairo (carved meeting house) in the United States, and one of only three outside New Zealand. It was built in 1880–81 in Tokomaru Bay, replacing an earlier house of the same name, which was dismantled in 1828 to protect it from warring tribes, and never re-assembled. By the early 1890s Ruatepupuke II was in disrepair, and was eventually sold to the Field Museum of anthropology in Chicago. A century later a team headed by Ngāti Porou experts restored Ruatepupuke II as a living meeting house and marae. It is now regularly used by Chicago First Nations (native American) people. 

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by Meghan Power

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How to cite this page

Brett Graham, Whakairo – Māori carving – Legendary origins of carving, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/43045/ruatepupuke-ii-meeting-house (accessed 16 June 2026).

Story by Brett Graham, published 21 October 2013.

Comments

DRHT
06 January 2025
There us another wharewhakairoa in the USA on the island of Oahu in the Hawaii chain. It has been there for over 60 year and it's carving was supervised by Pinea Taiapa
Terimoana Gilgen
11 September 2023
I am a direct descendent of Chief Henare Potae of Tokomaru Bay NZ. I am happy that the Field Museum is taking good care of our Tupuna Whare. I acknowledge your work with all you do to keep our ancestors safe. I understand why many feel our ancestors are lost, or lonely, or need to come home. However I believe they are all fine in the realms they have ascended to. My prayer is that they visit us in spirit here in Tokomaru to help fix problems we presently have within the tribes and to help fix up our ancestral houses we already have presently here. If we cannot look after the four we have properly, then based on what I see what I hear what I witness and feel, I conclude, we cannot look after Ruatepupuke II. He uri awau no Te Potae. E whakaai ana te noho tonu ki tenei Whare nui i te Chicago Museum. Kahore au e pirangi o te hokimaitanga ki tenei motu. He pai ake ki te noho tonu ki America, na te mea he maha nga raruraru i te Akau nei ki nga Marae e tu ana ke. Waihotia a Ruatepupuke II.