Rūnanga
Māori tribal assembly or council / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the New Zealand town, see Runanga, New Zealand.
In Tikanga Māori (Māori culture or practice), a rūnanga (runaka in Southern Māori dialect) is a tribal council, assembly, board or boardroom.[1] The term can also be a verb meaning "to discuss in an assembly".[1] An iwi (tribe) can have one governing rūnanga and many sub rūnanga, in such cases it can be used to mean the subdivision of a tribe governed by that council.[2] It is also used for non tribal affiliations as with the CTU Runanga a sub union for Māori workers.[3]
The leader or representative of a rūnanga is sometimes referred to as Te Upoku o Te Rūnanga (literally "The head of the rūnanga").