A WHARENUI
The role of the marae in Māori life remains as important today as it has done for centuries. These communal spaces are sacred and central to ideas of community cohesion and respect for one another. At the heart of the marae is the wharenui, the meeting house, sometimes also called a whare tipuna, which means ancestral house or whare rūnanga, which means communal meeting house. It is inside this building and at its threshold that all of the most important gatherings take place.
Just outside the wharenui is a public meeting area where
