An ancestral journey to reunite Maori with their marae ended in cyberspace at the weekend.
The Maori Maps website, which lists nearly 750 marae in New Zealand, was launched on Saturday.
A team led by University of Otago professor Dr Paora Tapsell spent four years travelling around New Zealand documenting and photographing marae.
''They have never been mapped and can be really hard to find,'' Dr Tapsell said.
''Marae are in crisis. About a third of the marae we visited were in a state of disarray, a third were struggling, and a third were doing well.
''They need people.''
New generations of Maori were growing up without any connection to their home marae, affecting their identity and wellbeing, he said.
''Our goal with Maori Maps has been to put marae back on the map, somewhere they've never been before, so future New Zealanders can all benefit from what makes our nation unique.''
About 98% of ancestral marae in New Zealand were listed on the site.
The website is being managed by Te Potiki National Trust to reconnect Maori rangatahi (youth) to their ancestral links and whakapapa.
