Poupou

For the French cyclist known as Pou-Pou, see Raymond Poulidor.
Poupou from the early 18th century (from the iwi Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti), last object of the first voyage of James Cook (1768–1771), gift to Joseph Banks, now at the Museum of the University of Tübingen MUT (Germany)

A poupou is a wall panel located underneath the veranda of a Māori wharenui (meeting house).[1] It is generally built to represent the spiritual connection between the tribe and their ancestors and thus each poupou is carved with emblems of the tohunga whakairo’s (carver's) particular lineage.[1] The poupou may also be decorated with representations of the tribe's ancestral history, legends and migration stories to New Zealand.[2] As such each wharenui, and by extension the poupou, are thus treated with the utmost respect, as if it were an ancestor.

  1. ^ a b Mead 1961, pp. 22–23.
  2. ^ "Marae – Māori meeting grounds". Pure New Zealand.