A Maori Meeting House

A wharenui (literally "big house") is a communal house of the Maori people of New Zealand generally situated as the focal point of a marae. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English or simply called whare (a more generic term simply referring to a house or building). The houses are often carved inside and out with stylized images of the iwi's (or tribe's) ancestors, with the style used for the carvings varying from tribe to tribe.