Matariki, Māori New Year

Another busy week writing reports till they are almost done. I can get my life back. But I've got a sore left arm, increasing rsi, and a sore left knee which I'm blaming on Spin classes but it could be arthritis  and the end of my knees till I get surgery. In the current health climate that could be years. 

I take the plunge pruning the plum tree which I haven't touched since I moved in, 2002. Well apart from the branch which got taken off when the fence was rebuilt. Last summer its branches were creaking and drooping over the garden. I buy a saw and pay Bertie to get up the ladder. There's only one moment where he swings like a monkey but all's well that ends well. We end up having three go's to finish but it looks a lot better. 

On Sunday the garage bench gets a bottom coat of Metallex. Any animal living or breathing in there after that must be able to withstand chemicals of atomic strength. Judith and Karen pop in and I give them chocolate...which I have to shush them discussing loudly as the neighbours are within hearing. 

It's our first national Matariki holiday and Lionel's birthday. So Friday is a sleep in. Thanks Te Ao Maori. And thanks the Arts Centre for the glorious Matariki events which not many people turned up to.

What is Matariki?

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises in midwinter and for many Māori, it heralds the start of a new year. Iwi across New Zealand understand and celebrate Matariki in different ways and at different times.

Matariki is an abbreviation of ‘Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimātea (‘The eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea’) and refers to a large cluster of stars, known in European tradition as the Pleiades. According to Māori tradition, the god of the wind, Tāwhirimātea, was so angry when his siblings separated their parents, Ranginui the sky father and Papatūānuku the earth mother, that he tore out his eyes and threw them into the heavens.

The cycle of life and death

Traditionally, Matariki was a time to acknowledge the dead and to release their spirits to become stars. It was also a time to reflect, to be thankful to the gods for the harvest, to feast and to share the bounty of the harvest with family and friends.

Matariki revived

Matariki, or Māori New Year, celebrations were once popular, but had largely stopped by the 1940s. In the 2000s, they were revived. Now, thousands of people take part in events to honour the beginning of the Māori New Year, and in whānau celebrations to remember those who have died and to plan for the year ahead. From 2022, a public holiday marking Matariki will be held on a Friday in June or July each year.