Carved Traditional Maori Figure, called Poupou, supporting the overhead rafters of the meeting house. This is the seventh on the left side after entering the house. It shows a marakihau, a mythical sea-creature with a fish-like body, representing the Mataatua tribes of Urewera and Whakatane. Te Whare Runanga, built 1940, Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Paihia, north island, New Zealand. The woven panels on either side of the poupou are called tukutuku. These are comprised of vertically-placed toetoe reeds (kakaho) across which lie narrow laths (kaho), laced through with colored strips of pingao grass and kiekie.