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World video travel guide
News • New Zealand • 2011-05-03
Early rising for Māori New Year 2011
Matariki, the unique cultural festival celebrating the dawning of Māori New Year, will start earlier this year with the Pleiades star formation due to first appear over New Zealand on 4 June.
Celebrations hinge on the first sightings of the distinctive star group, also known as the Seven Sisters, which are visible across the planet but first appear to the east of New Zealand.
Māori New Year
Matariki is the most important date on the Māori calendar and traditionally signalled a time for connecting with, and giving thanks to the land, sea and sky - with communities coming together to farewell the past year and welcome new life and new beginnings.
In recent years the importance of Matariki has been recognised with an increase in official events as well as the widespread family and local celebrations - mostly centred on kai / food and sharing hospitality - enjoyed throughout New Zealand’s Māori community.
2011 celebrations
This year Matariki will be celebrated throughout the month of June - one of the first events being held on the North Island’s East Coast, the location also famous for being the first in the world to see the sun.
Each year members of the Gisborne Astronomical Society (GAS) stage an early morning vigil, setting up telescopes and lasers to witness the Matariki rising and share experience and knowledge with the local community.
This year the group will gather on 5 June at Okitu on Wainui Beach, just outside Gisborne on the eastern extremity of the North Island - where Captain Cook reported spotting the transit of Venus in 1769 on his discovery voyage around New Zealand.
Tai Tokerau 2011 - Northland
Throughout New Zealand there are regional differences with each tribe beginning their Māori New Year celebrations at varying times.
In Northland, the Tai Tokerau celebrations begin at the first sighting of Puanga / Rigel, which appears in the night sky just before Matariki.
The Tai Tokerau 2011 festival events include traditional workshops, guided tours, Māori games, art and craft exhibitions, kapa haka performances, a Matariki Ball, an awards ceremony, and traditional kai evenings.
Auckland Matariki Festival
Organisers say Auckland's Matariki Festival promises to be better than ever this year, with more than 100 special events and activities across Tamaki Makaurau, from 4 June to 4 July.
From musical concerts and cultural performances, to a Māori business symposium and a Kai Wānanga / food forum, organisers say the aim is to provide Aucklanders and visitors with the chance to experience a living cultural tradition with tangata whenua / people of the land - celebrating the unique Māori heritage, nature, creativity and expression.
An opening dawn karakia / prayer ceremony at Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill on Saturday 4 June will welcome the rising of the Matariki star constellation.
Tirimarama concert - Auckland
On 24 June a major Matariki "star studded" concert will be held at Auckland’s Aotea Centre - showcasing contemporary Māori music in collaboration with other distinctive musical genres and top Kiwi talent.
Tirimarama or ‘glistening of the stars’ will feature artists like soulful singer/songwriter Tama Waipara, Australian Idol winner Stan Walker, legendary ‘polyfonk’ band Ardijah, diva Maisey Rika, and Pacific duo Adeaze.
The sounds of the Auckland Chamber Orchestra will mix with the "voices" of taonga puoro / traditional Māori instruments, and a stylised haka dance will be performed by renowned kapa haka / Māori performing arts group Te Waka Huia.
Te Papa - Wellington
Proposed Matariki celebrations at Te Papa - New Zealand’s national museum in Wellington - include educational as well as fun festival events.
The official festival runs from 9 - 26 June and this year’s theme is korowai / cloaks. The draft programme features a weaving symposium, arts and crafts workshops, fashion shows, a ‘Seven Sisters Day’ and ‘Seven Brothers Day’, story telling, Māori language, film and music events.
Wellington’s final programme and the list of events from other parts of New Zealand will be announced later in May.
Background: History of Matariki / Māori New Year
Matariki has always been an important time for Māori and the rising of the Matariki star constellation signals Te Tau Hou or Māori New Year - a time for connecting with, and giving thanks to the land, sea and sky.
Matariki was a time for the community to come together to farewell those departed and acknowledge the year gone by - and also look to the future, welcoming the new generation to the world and planning for the year ahead.
The star cluster was a navigational aid and an indicator of the coming seasons. If the stars were clear, it was a sign that the year ahead would be warm and therefore productive. If they were hazy and closely bunched together then a cold year would be in store.
For some Māori, the first new moon after the rise of Matariki signalled the start of the New Year celebrations. Marama / the moon is central to activities of harvesting kai / food on the land and at sea. It is the start for all things new and for the provision of kai.
Matariki was a time when people would gather to share food, rituals, entertainment, hospitality and share learning. Matariki celebrations were popular before the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand, and they continued into the 1900s. Gradually they dwindled, with one of the last traditional festivals recorded in the 1940s.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Matariki celebrations were revived and have become a special time throughout New Zealand to respect the land, celebrate the country and its unique culture.
According to tradition, Matariki has two meanings: either 'tiny eyes' or Mata ariki - 'the eyes of god'.
Māori legend tells of a time when Ranginui - the sky father, and Papatūānuku - the earth mother, were forcibly separated by their children.
The god of the winds - Tāwhirimātea became so angry that he tore out his eyes and threw them into the heavens, where they have been in existence ever since.
