Above the chief's house or the large hut, there is a carved lintel, the Pare, which has symbolic importance, as a threshold between the domain of the god of war (Tumatauenga) outside, and the domain of the god of peace (Rongo) within. The lintel (pare) often represents the Maori cosmogony, with the goddess of death (Hine Nui-Te-Po) or the Earth-Mother (Papatuanuku).
We often find a few figures with raised arms that represent Tane and his brothers in the process of separating the Earth and the Sky to let in the light and the knowledge in the world.
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