Year to come shows in sky

By LUCY BENNETT

The Pleiades rose in the dawn skies on the eastern horizon this week.

For Maori, the appearance of the star cluster they call Matariki is vital, because the first new moon after Matariki appears signals the New Year, which this time began on Wednesday.

Maori who follow the tradition celebrate the event and use it to plan their calendar for the year ahead.

For the first time, the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, marked Matariki with activities in the lead-up to its appearance. The activities will continue for a further fortnight.

In conjunction with the Education Ministry and the Maori Language Commission, Te Papa has produced its own Matariki calendar.

It is based on traditional knowledge of the seasonal cycle and looks at its importance to Maori.

The calendar gives information on favourable fishing times, astronomical events and phases of the moon.

In a nod to its Western counterparts, it notes public holidays and school holidays.

Traditionally, each tribe had its own body of knowledge based on its understanding of Papatuanuku (Mother Earth) as well as observation of the moon and stars.

When to plant and harvest, fish and gather food, weave and meet were based on the cycles of Papatuanuku.

Te Papa kaihautu (consultant) Te Taru White likens Matariki to a road map for Maori.



"That basically was their framework, their point of reference for life, in which they read the heavens, their cosmology," he says.

Stars were their map and they looked at the response of the earth, its flora, fauna and sea, to the heavens and through generations of time.

During the weeks Matariki is visible, all activities are tapu ( sacred) and take on great spiritual importance.

Crops are planted and Rongo-ma-tane, the god of cultivation, is appeased for a productive return.

It is a good time for collecting some traditional foods and it is also the right time to catch bountiful migrating fish.

Mr White says Matariki is unique to New Zealand at this time of year, but it is also important to other Polynesian cultures and to some further afield.

"Matariki is a worldwide thing because it's actually on the path that the sun takes," he says. "Therefore it is seen in all parts of the world and certainly seen by many traditional societies, and has formed a very similar basis for their New Year."

Te Papa's Maori community partnerships manager, Arapata Hakiwai, agrees.

"It is part of the framework for a lot of indigenous people - native American, South American peoples, Chinese - all venerated that star constellation Pleiades."

Mr White says: "It's certainly not a new thing to traditional peoples, but to this part of the world, this time phase is unique, because it happens towards the end of May or mid-June."

Even in New Zealand, there have always been differences in how Matariki was celebrated and interpreted.

"Matariki is looked at with different perspectives around the country, depending where you are as an iwi," says Mr Hakiwai.

"Different iwi celebrate it in different ways."

Iwi and individuals have always produced the calendars for different reasons.

Mr White says: "The challenge to us is how to present a calendar that captures the notion of Matariki without upsetting the perspective.

"We have consulted, reconciled names ... We have anchored our calendar against acknowledged systems of reference."

He says some people still live by the Matariki calendar, particularly for planting - "for kumara, potato, those sorts of things". They also still fish by the calendar.

"When you really look at Matariki it was the cycle to which we referenced everything we did in our lives. That's how it was traditionally perceived."

Mr White advocates recognition of Matariki as New Zealand's traditional New Year.

"Rather than just celebrating the winter solstice at this time of year, here is something unique to Aotearoa New Zealand."

The production of the Te Papa calendar was a way of relaying to the public that Matariki was the traditional New Year.

"This is what it is, this is what it looks like ... What a wonderful thing to celebrate in Aotearoa New Zealand, and as a national institution we are happy to join in the celebrations."

Mr White says the calendar also cements the bond between Western science and tradition.

"People who are still traditional in their practice in Matariki are sharing that knowledge now.

"Places like the Carter Observatory [in Wellington] and others are comparing their celestial knowledge with the traditional knowledge systems, so there is this coming together.

"There is another perspective on Earth's response to cosmology that can tie in very nicely to the Western scholarship system. This is a grand opportunity to get a nice melding between the two systems."

- NZPA