Matariki: the Māori New Year

Matariki is the Māori name of the Pleiades star cluster (M45) and of the Māori New Year it marks. In May the cluster disappears into the evening twilight; in midwinter (late June or July) it reappears low in the north-east before dawn, its heliacal rising. Seen in the right lunar phase of the right month, this rising begins the New Year. The name is explained by Rangi Mātāmua as a shortening of 'ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea', 'the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea' (mata ariki), not the popular 'little eyes' (mata riki), which goes back to Elsdon Best.

The public holiday

Public holiday since 2022 under Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022, first observed Friday 24 June 2022 (the first public holiday in Aotearoa New Zealand to recognise te ao Māori). Method chosen by the Matariki Advisory Committee in April 2021: 'Tangaroa of Pipiri', the Tangaroa lunar period of the lunar month Pipiri. Tangaroa is not a single phase but a period of 2-4 nights in the last quarter, when the waning moon goes from a quarter to dark. Many maramataka have six phases here, four honouring Tangaroa (Tangaroa-ā-mua, Tangaroa-ā-roto, Tangaroa whakapau, Tangaroa whāriki kiokio), one Tāne (Ōtāne) and one Rongo (Ōrongonui), followed by Ōmutu and Mutuwhenua, a 7-8 night celebration period. The first clear morning of the Tangaroa period on which Matariki is seen before sunrise begins the year, and the celebration lasts until Mutuwhenua (the dark moon). An intercalary month is added about every three years so that Pipiri stays in midwinter. The holiday is the Friday closest to the Tangaroa period, so it is always a Friday. Historical support cited: Aperahama Taonui (Te Wananga, 1875): 'Ka puta Matariki i nga Tangaroa' ('Matariki appears in the phases of Tangaroa'); Wiremu Tāwhai; Rāwiri Te Kōkau (Tūhoe).

All holiday dates are Fridays (checked). Taken from the Advisory Committee report; they match the lists published in July 2021 (1News, Newstalk ZB, Te Ao Māori News) and Te Papa.

The nine stars

Nine stars as taught by Rangi Mātāmua (Matariki: The Star of the Year, 2017) and followed by Te Papa; Western names from the usual identification. Mātāmua restored Pōhutukawa and Hiwaiterangi, two stars the popular 'seven sisters' count had dropped. Some iwi name and count the stars differently.

• Matariki (Alcyone (η Tauri)): The mother of the other stars; health and wellbeing of people; reflection, hope, connection to the environment and the gathering of people.
• Pōhutukawa (Sterope (Asterope)): Those who have died since the last rising of Matariki; at the New Year their names are called and they are farewelled to become stars.
• Tupuānuku (Pleione): Food that grows in the ground (nuku, the earth): kūmara and other crops.
• Tupuārangi (Atlas): Food from above, from the trees (rangi, the sky): birds, fruits and berries.
• Waitī (Maia): Fresh water: rivers, lakes and streams and the food in them.
• Waitā (Taygeta): The ocean, salt water and its food.
• Waipunarangi (Electra): Rain (written Waipuna-ā-rangi by Te Papa and others).
• Ururangi (Merope): The winds; the nature of the winds of the coming year.
• Hiwaiterangi (Celaeno): The youngest star, the wishing star: hopes and aspirations for the year ahead (also written Hiwa-i-te-rangi).

Remembrance, the present, the future

The government's Matariki pages and Te Kāhui o Matariki frame the season with three principles: Matariki Hunga Nui (remembrance, honouring those lost since the last Matariki), Matariki Ahunga Nui (celebrating the present, gathering to give thanks and share food) and Matariki Manako Nui (looking to the future, the year ahead). Traditional practice includes the hautapu ceremony (an offering of food cooked in an earth oven, whose steam rises to the stars), calling the names of the dead, and reading the clarity of each star as a sign for the year.

The holiday dates were set by the Matariki Advisory Committee (report by Professor Rangi Mātāmua, 2021) for the years 2022 to 2052.