New Zealanders right around the country have been celebrating Matariki, with many of them up well before dawn to watch the rising of the star cluster which heralds the start of the Māori New Year.
It became an official public holiday only in 2022, but it’s already become one of our most meaningful days and the first holiday to recognise Te Ao Māori. It was the first new public holiday since Waitangi Day became a public holiday in 1974.
The date of Matariki changes from year to year, but it will always fall in June or July.
Ngāti Rangi hosted this year’s national Matariki ceremony at Tirorangi Marae at the base of Mount Ruapehu.
Iwi spokesperson Che Wilson told 1News it was a “huge honour” to be the first marae to host the national holiday ceremony.
“It’s truly a privilege to welcome everyone here,” he said. “It means a great deal to us.”
Wilson explained that the Matariki celebrations would include offering karakia to specific stars in alignment with their Puanga traditions.
“In our Puanga narrative, we’ll offer them to four atua – Tāne, Rongo, Tangaroa, and Maru [the gods of forest, cultivated food, the sea, and war].”
The Māori Queen, politicians, and dignitaries attended the national ceremony.
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said having events across the country was a “real kotahitanga moment”.
“To bring it to national presence and international presence is something that connects us to the universe, and that’s really important for us, that we see our tikanga as a way of life, as a daily platform for kotahitanga. And for me, it also connects to many, many other people from throughout the world.”
It was also a poignant moment for European Union ambassador to New Zealand Lawrence Meredith, who lost his father when he was young.
“This whole transition for the ancestors is a really powerful message, the idea that ancestors become stars,” he said.
Hundreds gathered at Auckland’s Bastion Point to ring in the Māori New Year this morning with a hautapu ceremony.
Food and steam were offered to the stars of Matariki as an offering of thanks from the umu or hāngī.
The kai that is prepared for the hautapu connects to four different whetū (stars) in the Matariki cluster: Seafood with the star Waitā; freshwater kai with the star Waitī; kai from above the ground with the star Tupuārangi; and kai from the earth with the star Tupuānuku.
Many were up well before dawn to watch the rising of the star cluster. (Source: 1News)
Kingi Makoare (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) said it was awesome to see the eagerness from people to learn about Māori culture.
“It’s heartwarming to see people really interested in us.”
Fiona Smith (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) added that it was a “great reflection of what New Zealand really should be”.
“Together, collaborative right from the beginning, standing shoulder to shoulder, doing things together, holding hands together.”
In Tauranga, people of all ages summitted Mauao / Mount Maunganui before dawn for a remembrance of loved ones who had died in the past year.
Te Puna I Rangiriri trust chairman Jack Thatcher led the maumaharatanga ceremony and said it was a “very emotional” morning.
Maumaharatanga translates to memorial, memory or recollection.
Grieving families and friends were invited to place their hands on the monument Te Tapuātea o Mauao and call out the names of their loved ones.
“We have people bringing a lot of hurt. To call out the names of the loved ones that they’re missing gives them a chance to heal and carry on,” Thatcher said.