Poupou

For the French cyclist known as Pou-Pou, see Raymond Poulidor.

A poupou is a wall panel located underneath the verandah of a Māori wharenui (meeting house). 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. Poupou may also be decorated with representations of the tribe's ancestral history, legends, and migration stories to New Zealand. As such, each wharenui, and by extension the poupou, is thus treated with the utmost respect, as if it were an ancestor.

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