Story: Families: a history

A Māori family pose outside their home in the kāinga, or village, of the chief Tamahana, at Te Ariki at the head of Lake Tarawera. The photograph was taken before the eruption of Mt Tarawera near Rotorua in 1886, which destroyed or submerged the famous Pink and White Terraces and buried Te Ariki under 12 metres of mud. This family's home appears to be the dwelling at the back right, one of a group of homes built on or against a hill and collectively fenced. A toddler is tucked into the crook of his father's arm, while two little girls sit at his feet.