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Story: Tribal organisation

A meeting of chiefs

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A meeting of chiefs

High-ranking chiefs of the Mataatua and Te Arawa waka (canoe) confederations pose in front of the Mataatua meeting house, Bay of Plenty, where they were attending a gathering in the 1940s.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: F-30888-1/2

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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How to cite this page

Rāwiri Taonui, Tribal organisation – How iwi and hapū emerged, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/971/a-meeting-of-chiefs (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Rāwiri Taonui, published 4 March 2009.