Celebrating the Mäori  New Year  - drawing people together  


 



 
 

 

Matariki - Seven Sisters from NZ

 

 
 
   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.
 

 

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Matariki this year "In the early morning of 2 June, the star cluster Matariki - or Pleiades - will appear in our dawn skies. The Māori New Year begins with the first new moon after the first appearance of Matariki, and this year the new moon appears on 27 June..."
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 Maori Section desk upstairs to see the Reference copy if the lending copy is on issue:

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

What's happening in HB during Matariki 2006?
   
Matariki Festival - Maori New Year Celebration
of New Zealand 2006

Sat 3 Jun 2006 - Fri 16 Jun 2006

Details of events and times can 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 Maori..." by Elsdon Best for more.  Also available in Hastings & Havelock North Libraries: The astronomical knowledge of the Maori...)

Matariki  
(Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Mäori - Mäori Language Commission)   
 This website has the following pages on Matariki in both Mäori & English:
 
    Background
    Resources             Download the Matariki booklet PDF
    For Teachers
    Links
    Proverbs
 
Matariki at Te Papa If you are going to be in Wellington during Matariki, there is a full calendar of events happening.  More >>

"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 >>

 
Tätai Arorangi
 - Mäori Astronomy

Mäori Star & Constellation Names
(A Teapot in Paradise)

Catalogue of Mäori Star Names  (Astronomy NZ)

Astronomy NZ - Maori 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 Tätai Arorangi, Mäori 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 (20021 bytes)
pleiades.jpg
sciastro.net/portia/ articles/taurus.htm

 

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Pleiades Star Cluster  - an awesome photo.  Same photo with stars named.
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 -  Mäori, Mangaian, Mangarevan
Matali'i   - Samoan
Makalii   - Hawaiian
Mataliki  - Tongan
Mataiki   - Marquesan

 

 Ngä Pëpeha
- Proverbs
Matariki has inspired many sayings in the past.
The following proverbs and more can be found in Ngä Pëpeha a ngä Tipuna by Hirini Moko Mead and Neil Grove, held in Hastings and Flaxmere Libraries.
 
Hauhake tu, ka tö 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
Whängainga 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 ngä 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

 

 

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