Meeting Houses and the Materialisation of Maori Society
Jeffrey Sissons, Victoria University of Wellington
Lévi-Strauss described the institution of the house as ‘a dynamic formation that cannot be defined in itself, but only in relation to others of the same kind, situated in their historical context’ (1987: 178). In this paper I explore the process through which Maori society became a ‘house’ society in the 19th and 20th centuries, ordered in terms of relationships between meetinghouses. I draw upon my field research in the Tuhoe community of Te Waimana to show how different stages in this architectural materialisation of Maori society were underpinned by cultural concerns centred on mana and precedence and the work of the Native Land Court in dividing and subdividing Maori land.
