Matariki Hastings Libraries

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Matariki this year

"The star cluster Matariki (the Pleiades) will first rise on 23 May. The best time to see it will be on 31 May as there will be approximately 30 minutes between Matariki rising and the Sun coming up. The Māori New Year begins with the first new moon after Matariki’s reappearance. This year, the new moon rises on 5 June so the Māori New Year starts on 6 June...." From the Te Papa website

What is Matariki?

Matariki Festival - Celebration of New Zealand

Matariki is the Mäori name for the constellation Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Literally it means "little eyes" mata riki or "eyes of god" mata ariki.

The setting of Matariki in Apr / May / June marks the harvesting of root crops. In late May Matariki rises again on the North Eastern horizon just before dawn. The new moon following this (or full moon, depending on the iwi) marks the beginning of the "new year" and the planting season. It is a time of feasting, fun and festivity.

Sometimes Matariki was thought of as male (brother of Tongatonga), sometimes as female, mother of the other stars in the group. Their names are Tupua-nuku, Tupua-rangi Waiti, Waita, Waipunga-a-rangi and Ururangi.

(See "The astronomical knowledge of the Maori..." by Elsdon Best for more. Also available in Hastings & Havelock North Libraries: The astronomical knowledge of the Maori...)

Various resources
held in Hastings Library

Click here to see books and other items on our catalogue >>

Below are articles in magazines. Ask at the Māori Section desk upstairs in Hastings Library to see the Reference copy if the lending copy is on issue:

Happy New Year by Moana Jackson in Mana : the Māori news magazine for all New Zealanders (Aug/Sep 2001; 41:34) Reports on Matariki, Māori new year celebrations, and criticises the lack of media coverage. Reflects on current Māori issues.

Matariki te Whetu o te Tau : Aotearoa Pacific New Year in Tu Mai : offering an indigenous New Zealand perspective (Jul 2001; 24:30-31). Identifies and explains the significances of Matariki.

The rise of Matariki, te Whetu o teTau, in Tu Mai : offering an indigenous New Zealand perspective, (Jun 2004; 54: 21)

Matariki 2008 in Hawke's Bay

Ngati Kahungunu Iwi website - Matariki 2008 and events>>

Details of events and times can also be found on the Hawke's Bay Wine Country website: www.matarikifestival.co.nz

Elsdon Best reported...

Sometimes Matariki was thought of as male (brother of Tongatonga), sometimes as female, mother of the other stars in the group. Their names are Tupua-nuku, Tupua-rangi Waiti, Waita, Waipunga-a-rangi and Ururangi.

(See "The astronomical knowledge of the Māori..." by Elsdon Best for more. Also available in Hastings & Havelock North Libraries: The astronomical knowledge of the Māori...)

Matariki
(Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori - Māori Language Commission)

This website has the following pages on Matariki in both Māori & English:

Background

Resources Download the Matariki booklet PDF
For Teachers

Astronomical Terms

Links

Proverbs

Matariki at Te Papa

If you are going to be in Wellington during Matariki, there is a full calendar of events happening. M ore >>

"Matariki is a time of festivity for Māori, the tangata whenua, or first people of the land. At Te Papa’s Festival, we include all people of Aotearoa New Zealand - as well as this year adding elements of other Polynesian cultures into the programme..."

Various posters, sky charts and books can be purchased from Te Papa. More >>

Tātai Arorangi
- Māori Astronomy

Māori Star & Constellation Names
(A Teapot in Paradise)

Catalogue of Māori Star Names (Astronomy NZ)

Astronomy NZ - Māori Star Lore

includes foreword & introduction to Work of the Gods - the first in a series of books by Kay Leather and Richard Hall that explores Tātai Arorangi, Māori astronomy and star lore.

Images

We have a unique view of Matariki - Pleiades. Most images you find are Northern hemisphere views, and thus the opposite way around, but are beautiful anyhow.

pleiades.jpg
sciastro.net/portia/ articles/taurus.htm

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day - Seven Sisters v California - The naked eye sees 6 or 7 stars but there are actually 3000 in the constellation.

Space Station Science Picture of the Day - Canadarm and the Seven Sisters

Other Countries also have stories about Matariki

The Pleiades can be seen from all over the earth. "You could write a book about the myths of the Seven Sisters", says one site. Others talk about the Six Sisters and the Missing Sister. Anyway here are just some sites with myths from other countries...

Greek Myth
Greek, Blackfoot, Polynesian & Mayan
Australian Aboriginal people (12 versions)
and Other Countries from Seven Sisters
Australian Aborigine

Pacific
From Tu Mai (Jun 2004; 54: 21) - the following are Pacific names for Matariki:
Matariki - Māori, Mangaian, Mangarevan
Matali'i   - Samoan
Makalii   - Hawaiian
Mataliki - Tongan
Mataiki   - Marquesan

Ngā Pēpeha
- Proverbs

Matariki has inspired many sayings in the past.
The following proverbs and more can be found in Ngā Pēpeha a ngā Tipuna by Hirini Moko Mead and Neil Grove, held in Hastings and Flaxmere Libraries.

Hauhake tu, ka tō Matariki.

- Lifting of the crops begins when the Pleiades set.
(Refers to harvesting root crops at the setting of Matariki in March-April.)

Proverb
325

Matariki atua ka eke mai i te rangi e roa, e roa, e
Whāngainga iho ki te mata o te tau e roa, e.

- Matariki rising in the broad heavens
Nourish those below with the first fruits.

325

Ka kitea a Marariki, ka rere te koroloro.

- When Matariki is seen, the lamprey migrate. (The lamprey was taken by some river tribes to be eaten or traded for food.)

985

Ka rere ngā purapura a Matariki.

- The seeds of the Pleiades are falling. (Refers to snow falling in some regions.)

1107

Matariki hunga nui.

- The Pleiades have many people. (The planting season, heralded by the heliacal rising of the Pleiades draws many people together for the work to be accomplished.)

1759

Matariki kanoki iti.

- The Pleiades season with little representation. (Food stores and, consequently, hospitality is limited in this season as the new crops go into the ground. Also a pun, since kanohi may mean 'eye' and mata riki is literally 'small eye'.)

1760


Celebrating the Māori New Year - New Beginnings


	Matariki hunga nui - The Matariki (Pleiades) have many people The planting season, heralded by the rising of Matariki, draws many people together for the work to be accomplished.