Farewell to 2018
He ra¯ngai maomao i taku ki tua o Nukutaurua, e kore a muri e hokia. A shoal of maomao (fish) that gets beyond Nukutaurua (a reef outside Mango¯nui harbour) will never return.
This hakatauki refers to our departed, and are the words spoken by the Nga¯ti Awa rangatira Kauri to his people who had settled and married into Nga¯ti Kahu and did not want him to return home. His reply was to explain to his people that he was resolute in his decision to leave.
Kauri could not stay in Nga¯ti Kahu because he was not from here, and he wanted to take his people home where they belonged.
Therefore, he moved all the ko¯iwi (bones) of his people from Pa¯rakerake (a mountain between Parapara and Aurere) in preparation for his and their return, and likened himself to the maomao beyond Nukutaurua reef; once he passed it, he would never look back. And, indeed, Kauri never returned to Nga¯ti Kahu.
This hakatauki has been used to encourage Nga¯ti Kahu and others to be resolute in our decision-making, to set a goal and not waiver from it until it is completed.
It has also been applied to the irrevocable passing of the years, which, in New Zealand, are marked according to the Julian calendar that starts January 1 and ends December 31.
But in Aotearoa there are close to 400 maramataka (calendars). Each one takes into account the different times, seasons, climates and energies of each locale, and each day is marked according to the cycle of the marama (moon). So each day of that cycle has a specific name, which is a metaphor for the kinds of activities that will suit its specific time, season, climate and energy.
Each maramataka is a scientifically logical matrix based on centuries of observation and experience that works.
For those who work directly in te taiao (the natural environment), the correct maramataka for their locale is an especially great boon and blessing that passes on to all who consume or rely upon what we produce.
In terms of productivity, I find the maramataka more useful than the calendar. Engari, I have learnt to live a synthesis of both.
According to our local maramataka of Nga¯ti Kahu, we are in the season of raumati (summer) and the marama (month) of hakihea; Christmas Day will be Rakaumatohi, and New Year’s Day in Kohitatea (January) will be Tangaroa a Roto, both high energy days. Hei aha!
Whatever we choose to do on those days, and regardless of which maramataka we choose to follow, once every day passes beyond Nukutaurua it will never return.
Tae noa ki te hakatau ano ma¯tou, ma te Atua e manaaki e tiaki i nga¯ wa¯ katoa. Until we meet again, may the God of your understanding bless and keep you at all times.
"For those who work directly in te taiao (the natural environment), the correct maramataka for their locale is an especially great boon and blessing that passes on to all who consume or rely upon what we produce. "