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What does Matariki mean to you

WRITE ON STUFF: Different people understand and celebrate Matariki in different ways.Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. These stars rise at this time of year.Matariki also marks the start of the Māori New Year – te Mātahi o te Tau.It is a time for reflection, to remember our loved ones who have died.Link to article: What does Matariki mean to you and how are you celebrating it? | Stuff.c...

Matariki 2022:

Quilt artist Maungarongo 'Ron' Te Kawa discovered the impact his beautifully crafted pieces had when a couple of construction workers admired his work displayed in an Auckland art gallery.Mesmerised by the stories that the quilts told, the workers wandered off the street to let Te Kawa know of their appreciation."People do recognise themselves in my work. The construction workers came in one at a time and told me their pepeha and their tribal affiliations. They talked in Māori, they talked abou...

South Canterbury schools celebrate

Matariki is being celebrated at schools throughout South Canterbury, with one dedicating an entire day to honour the occasion.On Friday, New Zealand will celebrate its first indigenous holiday – Matariki, new year on the Māori lunar calendar.With the day a public holiday, many schools throughout the region have chosen to mark Matariki in the lead up to the day off.At Waimataitai School, principal Jonathon Young said the school had decided to dedicate all of Wednesday to Matariki events.L...

Kaiārahi i te reo offered 79% pay increase

A historic pay equity settlement could see kaiārahi i te reo – expert advisers in te reo and tikanga Māori – receive a 79% pay increase for their work in schools.If the offer is accepted, kaiārahi i te reo earning $23.04 per hour would be paid $41.31, with proposed pay increases ranging from 77% to 83%.Kaiārahi i te reo work alongside teachers and use their knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori to support school communities.The pay equity process was started by NZEI Te Riu Roa and the M...

Matariki displays light up Auckland CBD

Auckland’s Queen Street is alight with artwork to kick off Matariki.Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the display, called Matariki ki te Manawa, will bring light and colour to the city centre, with Queen Street taking centre stage.“Matariki ki te Manawa promises a spectacular display that will bring vibrancy to our city centre, attract visitors and provide a boost to businesses impacted by Covid-19,” he said.“Highlights will include an impressive lightshow projected onto the Chief Post Offic...

Stan Walker stands in for Elton John

When The Lion King film first came out in 1994, actor Mātai Rae (Ngāpuhi, Waikato) did not speak te reo Māori.“I had no reo Māori at all, and actually, it was that year that I started my journey in te reo,” he said.Now he has voiced Pumbaa, the iconic, endearing warthog in Kīngi Raiona, the reo Māori version of the Lion King which premiered at the Civic Theatre in Auckland on Tuesday night, ahead of its general release on June 23.Link to video and article: Stan Walker stands in fo...

Rob Ruha

I have five tamariki with my beautiful wife who has been the backbone to my musical endeavours and achievements. We live in the tribal territories of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui as active contributors to our hapū and our whānau speak Māori as a first language.Kapa haka will always be my first musical love and will forever be acknowledged by me as the mothership of Māori music. I have been writing waiata for kapa haka since I was 12, and in 2013 I was encouraged to pursue a solo career in music...

Tourism operators draw on Matariki values

This year, a new multi-day festival is being launched in the Mackenzie region, aiming to draw visitors to the hard hit district and celebrate Māori New Year.It was one of two Matariki festivals to receive government backing with hopes they would become internationally significant in time.Matariki remained a time for celebration, remembrance, growth and renewal.Kāi tahu astronomer Victoria Campbell said all New Zealanders could benefit from and engage with Matariki."This is a really important t...

Matariki 2022:

For centuries, Māori have marked the reappearance of the small cluster of Matariki stars in the mid-winter sky, by gathering to enjoy the bounty of harvest from the earth, sea and sky.It is a time for remembering - particularly those who have passed away in the past year - enjoying being together with good food, and looking forward to all that the coming year will bring.But there's also much more to discover about Matariki, with stories to be shared, as well as the rich symbolism in traditional...

Skies clear for magical

The organiser of Tauranga's first Matariki Kite Day says it's "fantastic to see how much the event has grown over the years".Despite a wet started to the weekend, skies cleared in time for hundreds of colourful kites to take flight for Matariki Kite Day on Sunday.Around 2800 people flocked to Fergusson Park to enjoy the warm winter’s day, fly a kite, and watch the New Zealand Kitefliers Association put on a spectacular display.Link to video and article: SunLive - Skies clear for magical M...

Babycity apologises

Baby goods store Babycity has apologised for promoting a Matariki sale, saying it never intended to offend or disrespect the celebration.Babycity had advertised its sale by saying Matariki was a time of “reflection, preparation and celebration with family and loved ones.”“Prepare for this next chapter with amazing offers across our range,” it said in a post, which has since been deleted.Link to video and article: Babycity apologises for promoting 'culturally insensitive' M...

Matariki Experience

Part of ILT Stadium Southland has been transformed into an otherworldly night scape for Tuurama Trust’s Matariki Experience.Think lighting to set the scene, a booming voice and video display sharing the pūrākau (stories) of the Matariki stars, and an artist’s impression of what they might look like as people.After months of planning, Tuurama Trust cultural activator Jay Coote is “stoked” to be inviting children and whānau down to the stadium to learn about the Māori New Year.Link to ...

Film Review:

In 1994, I took my niece and nephew, then aged 5 and 7, to watch Disney's The Lion King at the cinema in New Plymouth. Last night, 28 years later, I attended the premiere of The Lion King Reo Māori at Auckland's Civic Theatre.The experience of watching the translated version of the animated classic made me emotional.I sat there thinking about how my niece and nephew, who are now in their 30s and with children of their own, will have the opportunity to take their tamariki to this Hollywood maste...

1000 people gather at Takaparawhau

Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei held a Umu Kohukohu Whetū, a traditional ceremonial offering to mark the rise of Matariki inviting members of the public to join them.Ranginui, the sky father, eventually cleared the skies and Tāwhirimatea and made sure the wind was low for the occasion, so that Matariki could be seen glistening in the morning sky.Today marks the first day in most Maramataka, of the Tangaroa phase, when Matariki is most known and best recorded to be seen and marked, celebrations begin an...

Matariki:

Instead, it was when Rereata Makiha, Papa Ral to many, years ago told me to show up, microphone in hand, to a random university lecture hall. He gave no other information. I, of course, did what I was told, and rolled up with no idea what was about to happen. My mind was about to be blown.I heard about this magical cluster of stars that our ancestors looked to mark te matahi o te tau - the new year - as it aligned with our lunar calendar. It all made absolute sense. Of course. I will never forge...

Matariki's key elements

Indigenous studies and Māori cultural astronomy academic Professor Rangi Mātāmua (Ngāi Tūhoe) told First Up Matariki is the earliest and best recorded history of a group of stars in humanity."There's a cave painting that's 17,000 years old in France that marks the Pleiades and right across the globe cultures used its rising and setting to mark change of season or harvest or planting or celebration."The Pacific and Polynesia used Matariki as a marker of change of season, he said."W...

A Taranaki town showcasing its talents

A north Taranaki community group is working to restore the future and fortune of its town, starting with its artists.Waitara Co-operative, a group in which members pay to have co-ownership, is hosting an art exhibition at Matariki weekend to boost numbers and showcase Waitara talent.“The goal is to return Waitara to the community it once was when it was a thriving community and people had money, and it was a genuine sense of community,” co-operative founder Arno Percival said.Percival said a...

'Whānau are at breaking point':

The charitable trust is asking the public to donate $15 each, which will help to feed a child for one week.The funding will go towards feeding 15 percent of children in New Zealand who live with food insecurity.KidsCan's founder and chief executive Julie Chapman said families on low incomes were doing it tougher than ever before."They can't absorb the rising cost of living, and by the end of the week the food runs out. It's an awful way to live," Chapman said.The cost-of-living crisis was also a...

Te Matau a Māui iwi

Iwi across Te-Matau-a-Māui or Hawke's Bay are making big investments in orchards, bringing whānau back to their whenua.They hope this new kaupapa will bring their people jobs.Roimata King works at Ngāti Pāhuwera's Pākuratahi orchard near Tangoio, just north of Ahuriri or Napier.She moved to Te-Matau-a-Māui from an infant formula industry job in Waikato to join her whānau."I've got my grandmother who works here with me, I've got my sister, cousins," she said.She said work such as this was ...

Puanga

Puanga (Rigel) is Taranaki’s tohu of the new year. In our rohe, it is said to be the oldest star in the sky which is why she leads these celestial bodies into te tau hou. The traditions surrounding her are almost as abundant as the stars themselves, each celebrating her relationship to the world as we know it. Some have her as the wife of Rehua (Antares), the tohu of summer, and claim puawānanga (White clematis) as the child of these two lovers, the flower blooming in the months between ...

Māori astronomer says first Matariki public holiday

Aleading Māori astronomer believes grandchildren and descendants will look back on the first Matariki public holiday and say it's a moment in our national history where we came of age.It comes as preparations and celebrations are well underway to mark the beginning of the Māori New Year. A six-minute immersive light show at Auckland's Stardome is illuminating the core values of Matariki by shining a spotlight on the star cluster that heralds the Māori New Year."Remembering who we have lo...

The changing lives of our children:

Gone are the days when little ones spent their preschool years at home. So who’s looking after our children and what effect does this have on their development? FRANK FILM reports.For Sally Burt, mornings are a busy flurry of getting her little ones ready for preschool and out the door.Four-year-old Cole and two-year-old Bo spend four days a week at Fundamentals Early Childhood Education (ECE) centre in Merivale, Christchurch. Cole was eight months old when he went into preschool, and Bo had j...

New head of steam keeps rising

Hautapu is a name recently rediscovered in Waikato for an old Matariki ceremony involving feeding the constellation’s whetū (stars) with steam (hautapu) from an oven.It’s a term Matariki expert and astronomer Dr Rangi Mātāmua has acknowledged was revived at Rāwhitiroa Marae in the Wharepuhunga rohe, south of Te Awamutu, by the Ngāti Takihiku hapū.The hapū’s Paraone Gloyne – a Ngāti Raukawa te reo and tikanga expert also recognised nationally as a rangatira in kapa haka – said i...

Matariki

Link to book purchase: Aotearoa Books | Matariki Around the World...

Celebrating Matariki

In celebration of Matariki, Māori astronomer Professor Rangi Matamua (Ngāi Tūhoe) and journalist Miriama Kamo (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga) have come together to create a new children's book, Matariki Around the World (with illustrations by Isobel Te Aho-White), which explores the origins of the Matariki cluster through nine name whetū (stars) and includes stories about the same star cluster from the Pacific Islands to Australia, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa.Kamo is an awar...