User:Ahukaramu/sandbox

Whare Tapere are New Zealand Māori tribal community based 'houses' of storytelling, dance, games, music and other entertainments. They were a feature of pre-European Māori tribal life, however, they fell into disuse in the 19th century, following the movement into new townships, and no continuous whare tapere tradition exists today.

In pre-European times, sometimes structures were created for the whare tapere and its activities, however, mostly whare tapere were convened at simple communal locations such as upon open ground, around a large fire, at the base of a tree and so on. On many occasions, whare tapere took place within existing buildings of the traditional tribal village.

The primary myth of the whare tapere is an ancient Polynesian story concerning the enmity of one Tinirau (the progenitor of fish) and his rival Kae. In the story, Kae betrays Tinirau by killing his pet whale Tutunui. Tinirau seeks retribution by convening a troupe of women who he despatches to Kae's island for the purpose of capturing him. All deities of the whare tapere, the women successfully capture Kae through performances in the whare tapere. They return him to Tinirau whereupon he is sent to his death.

As an oral culture, storytelling was the great past time of pre-European Māori culture. And so the whare tapere was a great storytelling institution. In it innumerable stories were told great and small, serious and insignificant were told.