MATARIKI SHINES ITS LIGHT
From kai to karakia, Glenn McConnell meets Kiwis across the country to find out how Matariki is being celebrated and how mark the Moon New Year
caster Stacey Morrison an her husban , Te Karere’s Scotty Morrison, ha e an early start lanne . ith their chil ren, she says, they’ll be startin the new year with e ucation an co e oration.
‘Matariki can be quite personal, as well as engaging in public ceremonies and events. “It’s a time to look at how you’re going to reset with this opportunity to assess and remember. One of the stars in Matariki, Hiwa-i-te-rangi, is a wishing star. I love that. I think everyone can connect with that. When you send your hopes to Hiwa-i-te-rangi, you are taking stock of how the year has been for you so you can reset.
“We also remember those we have lost. I’ll be remembering our kuia, who passed just before lockdown last year. Our belief is that now her spirit will fly across the sky and be looked after by
Po¯ hutukawa [one of the other stars of Matariki].
“We’ll get up at 4-something-am, with our clothes and everything ready. We’ll talk the kids through it ... Our eldest daughter – she’s 12 – does think that atua Ma¯ ori should get up at a more reasonable time. But they’ll be amongst it too.
“We’ll head up a mountain, having planned with the wa¯ nanga before. We’re going with wha¯ nau from our school and wa¯ nanga community. Up there we will have our karakia, which go for about half an hour, with a beautiful view. If anyone wants to say anything, to remember those they’ve lost, they’ll be able to do that, and then we might have waiata or karanga. After that, we’ll have a big breakfast together, and then we start our wa¯ nanga – we’re going to have a big learning day, learning te reo, with other families.
“To me, it’s about wha¯ nau. There’s a healing aspect to Matariki, and so unity is important. My friend wants to go to a concert – I don’t know if I’ll make it that late.” ro essor Rangi Matamua is renowne as an e ert on Matari i an the Mara ata a. or hi , Matari i is not a one ay thin . t’s a whole wee o e ents, co e oration an celebration. On July 2, he’ll start the Māori New ear be ore awn.
‘Every year, I am on top of a hill with groups conducting karakia for Matariki, cooking food for Matariki and going through the traditional ceremony. I’ll be going round various events celebrating for about a week. These ceremonies are based on three things:
• Remembering those we have lost since the last light of Matariki. We remember them and call out their names.
• Celebrating the present. With food, festivities, music
and all the things we enjoy doing.
• Planning for the future. It’s a time to get ready for the new year. We talk about what we’ll do, and even resolutions.
“Since June 10, we have been in Pipiri – the first month of the Ma¯ ori year – but the ‘new year’ is different. We celebrate the new year from July 2 this year.
“We don’t acknowledge it until then because Pipiri started in the phase of Whiro, the god of death and darkness. In a Ma¯ ori mindset, you don’t celebrate anything during that phase as it is such a sinister time. In the last quarter, when the Moon wanes and just one half of it is bright while the other is dark, that is the moment when everything peaks, and we celebrate the Ma¯ ori New Year.
“The lunar cycle fluctuates between good and bad, and the end of the month focuses on the major Ma¯ ori atua that give substance, such as Tangaroa, god of the sea, Ta¯ ne, god of the forest, and Rongo, god of the garden. It’s a six-, seven-day celebration.”
They’ll be up a hill, in their home town of Maketu, where a ha¯ngı will have been laid about 5am. It should take about three hours for the ha¯ngı to cook, says Ka¯rena. “As a kid, it felt like a really long time to wait. But now, I think it actually feels really good to be able to take that long to cook something.”
Not everyone will be lucky enough to cook a ha¯ngı for the Ma¯ori New Year – but not to worry. The chefs and television personalities have an alternative which should taste just as good.
Their ma¯ nuka-smoked lamb leg with green-lipped mussel salsa and ku¯mara gratin pays homage to the stars of Matariki, and what they represent; from the earth, to the sea, and the sky.
Ka¯ rena says they came up with the recipe to acknowledge the story behind Matariki. The lamb represents Tupua¯ nuku, the eldest of the sisters of Matariki, who sees over the land. The watercress relates to the star Waitı, who is connected freshwater. The ma¯nuka, Tupu-a¯ -rangi, who looks after the forests. And the steamed mussels, you can thank Waita¯ – the star associated with food from the sea.