Story: Tribal organisation

Whānau eating together

Whānau eating together

The importance of older people within the whānau (extended family), especially their role in nurturing the young, is conveyed in this early 20th-century painting, ‘The time of kai’, by Gottfried Lindauer. All generations, from elders to young children and babies, gather near the hāngī (earth oven) to partake of eel, kūmara and shellfish.

Using this item

Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki
Reference: 1915/2/48
Oil on canvas by Gottfried Lindauer, 1907

Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Rāwiri Taonui, 'Tribal organisation - Whānau', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/978/whanau-eating-together (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Rāwiri Taonui, published 8 Feb 2005