Venu Menon
Wellington,27 May,2023
Maori New Year is heralded each year by the appearance of a huddle of stars in the dawn sky known as Matariki.
The date varies between late June and early July.
This year, it falls on Friday, July 14.
Since 2022, Matariki has been declared a national holiday in New Zealand.
The day is marked by special ceremonies rooted in Maori tradition, legend, myth, and spiritual practice.
Matariki is associated with farewelling the dead, honouring the ancestors and rejoicing over the harvest season.
Ceremonies reflect the three moods or themes of Matariki, and include calling out the names of those who passed away in the course of the year, preparing food to “feed the stars” and holding discussions or wananga to plan for the year ahead.
The collection of nine stars is visible just before dawn in the north-eastern horizon of the sky, positioned at the tail end of the Milky Way.
In the indigenous Maori belief system, each of the nine stars rules over a specific natural domain.
Matariki expert and astronomer Professor Rangi Matamua identifies the nine stars: Matariki, the guardian star the cluster is named after, signifies wellbeing; Waiti symbolises fresh water; Waita rules over the ocean; Tupuanuku is linked to the soil; Tupuarangi governs the skies; Waipunarangi controls rain; Ururangi directs the wind; Pohutukawa watches over the dead; and Hiwa-i-te-rangi guides the future.
The Matariki cluster holds significance outside New Zealand.
Known by different names across the Pacific region, it is Mataliki in Tokelau, Niue, Tuvalu and Tonga; Matali’i in Samoa; Matari’i in Tahiti; and Makali’i in Hawaii. It remains Matariki in the Cook Islands.
The Matariki constellation is known as Pleiades in Greece.
While there is a broad consensus among iwi in Aotearoa around the Maori New Year, some endorse the star Puanga rather than Matariki.
In Whanganui, Taranaki, the Far North and the South Island, Puanga is the more visible star.
The Maori year follows the lunar calendar and consists of 354 days, as opposed to the Western calendar year of 365.25 days. This explains why Matariki falls on different dates of the Western calendar each year.
Matariki was celebrated by the indigenous Maori prior to the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand, but gradually fell out of vogue.
Interest revived after major Matariki events were organised, first in Hastings in 2000 and then in other locations across the country each year. Professor Matamua’s books also helped raise awareness among indigenous communities.
Institutional support from Te Papa Museum and the Maori Language Commission, coupled with events staged by local councils, helped push the revival of Matariki.
In 2017, the Guy Fawkes Day fireworks display in Wellington, usually held in November, was shifted to July to coincide with Matariki.
But the Wellington City Council has decided there will be no fireworks display this year, a move Professor Matamua has welcomed.
“I’ve always questioned it, because of the noise pollution and the land and water pollution, whether that does align with Matariki values of environmental awareness. For me, I don’t think it does align,” he says.
To promote Matariki, a booklet will be distributed to schools and communities across the country.
“It was a beautiful moment to see how the nation took joy in celebrating and embracing Matariki last year,” said Kelvin Davies, Minister of Maori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti.
“The job now is to embed the day into our calendar while ensuring it remains grounded in matauranga Maori and upholds the key principles and values associated with Matariki.”
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
