DOI issue:
No. 95 (February, 1901)
DOI article:Praetorius, Charles J.: Maori houses
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19787#0039
Maori Houses
Next to these came the dwellings of great chiefs
— great by their valour in battle, clearly shown by
the number of carvings of their slain foes. These
were generally carved as wall slabs. Images ot
ancestors were carved in the round, and some-
times a chief carved his
own portrait on the ridge-
pole of his house.
It was usual among
the New Zealanders to
build near their houses
and platforms store-
houses for their food,
which consisted of maize,
kumeras, and seeds, etc.
They were generally built
on one or more posts, at
some height from the
ground, to preserve them
from the damp and the
native rats. The sides of
these store-houses were
built of a special kind of
rush, called raupo, and the
roof was thatched with
tohi-tohi grass.
The store-house here
illustrated was the pro- storehouse for food from a drawing by c. j. i'r.<ktorius
perty of one named Ko
Tariu, a chief of Taupo,
who lived at Te Rapa, on the shores of Taupo lake ; chiefs such food was sacred, and therefore isolated
it was coloured red, and had more decoration than from that eaten by women and slaves. Among
other store-houses near the coast. This one was for heathen Maoris these store-houses were richly
provisions, and by the tapu concerning the food of ornamented with carvings and large bunches of
feathers ; but after the in-
troduction of Christianity
native store-houses were
no longer built as in the
olden days.
The building of a house
was performed with great
ceremony and ritual, ap-
propriate prayers being
^^^^^^^^^ recited at each stage until
lintels of doorways from drawings by c. j. PRiETORius Stan Journal says :—" In_
24
Next to these came the dwellings of great chiefs
— great by their valour in battle, clearly shown by
the number of carvings of their slain foes. These
were generally carved as wall slabs. Images ot
ancestors were carved in the round, and some-
times a chief carved his
own portrait on the ridge-
pole of his house.
It was usual among
the New Zealanders to
build near their houses
and platforms store-
houses for their food,
which consisted of maize,
kumeras, and seeds, etc.
They were generally built
on one or more posts, at
some height from the
ground, to preserve them
from the damp and the
native rats. The sides of
these store-houses were
built of a special kind of
rush, called raupo, and the
roof was thatched with
tohi-tohi grass.
The store-house here
illustrated was the pro- storehouse for food from a drawing by c. j. i'r.<ktorius
perty of one named Ko
Tariu, a chief of Taupo,
who lived at Te Rapa, on the shores of Taupo lake ; chiefs such food was sacred, and therefore isolated
it was coloured red, and had more decoration than from that eaten by women and slaves. Among
other store-houses near the coast. This one was for heathen Maoris these store-houses were richly
provisions, and by the tapu concerning the food of ornamented with carvings and large bunches of
feathers ; but after the in-
troduction of Christianity
native store-houses were
no longer built as in the
olden days.
The building of a house
was performed with great
ceremony and ritual, ap-
propriate prayers being
^^^^^^^^^ recited at each stage until
lintels of doorways from drawings by c. j. PRiETORius Stan Journal says :—" In_
24