Matariki lecture to illuminate M¯aori astronomy
A Ma¯ ori astronomy expert is being run off his feet giving public lectures about Matariki, the Ma¯ ori new year, and wants the celebration to become a public holiday.
Over June and July, Dr Rangi Ma¯ ta¯ mua will travel to centres across New Zealand to present more than 30 lectures on the constellation – also known as Pleiades – its significance to Ma¯ ori, and where to find it in the night sky. It should be visible from June 15.
His free Christchurch lecture, Matariki: A Star Journey, is at 6pm tonight, in the Great Hall at The Arts Centre, on Worcester Blvd.
‘‘Matariki has pretty much been the dedication of my life. I was fortunate enough to have been taught [about astronomy] by my grandfather and given a manuscript from one of my ancestors who wrote extensively on Ma¯ ori astronomy,’’ Ma¯ ta¯ mua said.
Ma¯ ta¯ mua, who is Tu¯ hoe, is a lecturer at the University of Waikato in the Faculty of Ma¯ ori and Indigenous Studies. He published a book called Matariki: The Star of the Year in 2017, outlining traditional practices and ceremonies relating to the celebration, and whether the event has a modern context.
‘‘It’s always been a part of my life. You could say I was born into it, or maybe the stars aligned,’’ he said.
‘‘During the lecture, I’ll be explaining what Matariki is from a Ma¯ ori perspective, how you find it in the night sky, what each of the nine stars represent and how they were read.’’
Traditionally, various iwi read the stars when they appeared, usually around the time of the winter solstice, to find out whether the next year would be prosperous.
‘‘They would often cook an oven of traditional food in the ground and when Marariki rose in the sky they would open it and the steam would rise into the sky to feed Matariki,’’ he said.
Ma¯ ta¯ mua’s support for Matariki comes a day after Wellington Mayor Justin Lester threw his weight behind calls for the Queen’s Birthday public holiday to be replaced by the traditional Ma¯ ori celebration.
‘‘The way it is celebrated, the place it holds in our national history, I couldn’t think of a better reason for a holiday,’’ he said.
Ma¯ ta¯ mua hopes Matariki could be seen as a celebration that ‘‘transcends all of the negativity that often comes with race and politics’’.