Taranaki Poupou

The interior walls of the whare whakairo (carved meeting house) are adorned with carvings called poupou. Each poupou in a meeting house connects to a common ancestor, after whom the house was named. Spaced evenly along the inside walls, each poupou supported a rafter panel which extended from the main central ridge, reinforcing the importance of whakapapa (genealogy) to the living generations.