“... for me, it’s imperative that our traditional knowledge is disseminated and incorporated to have meaning and purpose in our modern world.

Mātauranga Māori is not locked in the past. It is still evolving and developing. It is a framework for our Indigenous knowledge systems, whether they are still purely traditional or whether we have incorporated other thinking and concepts and added elements of our Māoriness to them.”

…

“The beauty of the upcoming Matariki holiday is that it’s one way in which mātauranga Māori will connect us all. 

There isn’t a single person in the world who doesn’t come from a culture or background where people looked up to the sky — for inspiration, for navigation, for understanding time. 

The earliest cave painting in the world, some 20,000 years old, has Pleiades — which is Matariki — drawn on the wall, using astronomical references from China. This cluster of stars has been a universal point of contact for all peoples since the beginning of humanity. 

So, our Matariki holiday is built on wonderful principles of unity and celebration and togetherness. And it shows that western understandings of science and mātauranga Māori are not adversaries but are linked together.”

— Dr Rangi Matamua (2022) How Matariki will connect us all

Matariki

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades that rises in mid-winter, marking the start of the Māori New Year. Iwi across New Zealand understand and celebrate Matariki in different ways and at different times.

“The reappearance of the Matariki stars in our sky each year marks the beginning of a new year, and in recent years has become a time of celebration not just for Māori, but for many people across Aotearoa,” Māori Crown Relations Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis said.

“Because the date of Matariki changes each year depending on the appearance of Pleiades in the sky, we have established a Matariki Advisory Group to provide advice on future dates of the public holiday, how it should be celebrated and to support the development of resources to educate the public on Matariki and the celebrations.”

Matariki is celebrated in June / July each year, near the middle of the planting season for most of the country. The rising of the Matariki constellation marks a traditional time of harvest, thanksgiving, and remembrance.

“I’d encourage people to encounter the supernatural essence of Christ. The supernatural imprint of Te Kaihanga i runga i te whenua, ki te rangi (The Creator of the earth and the heavens). Matariki literally means ‘Te Mata-Ariki’ – to come face to face with the Lord, a time of deep encounters with the Lord, and say where am I at lord?, and to ask the lord, where are we heading?”

– Lorinda Pereira.

Matariki Liturgies and Service

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia’s Celebration of Matariki liturgies.

The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Matariki Services. Their Kids Friendly Matariki resources.

St Andrew’s on the Terrace’s Matariki Service.

Matariki Waiata

E Te Ariki, to mātou nohonga / God, our help in ages past
Words by Rev Dr Wayne Te Kaawa
To the tune of Auld Lang Syne

E Te Atua, ko koe nei ra                            God, our help in ages past
Te Kaiawhina mai                                         Our hope for years to come
Te Pa e ora ai ahau                                      Our shelter, our salvation
I enei mate nui                                              Our eternal home 

Ko koe te marumaru mai                            Under the shadow of your throne
E au ai toku moe                                           I have slept secure
Matariki, ki runga ra                                      Matariki above
Pi-ata-ata mai                                              Shining bright

Kahore noa, kia hanga mai                         Before the mountains
Nga whetu o te ao                                        or stars were created
Kua Atua noa mai ano koe                          From, everlasting you are God
A ake tonu nei                                                Endless years the same

Ki a koe nei, ngā mano tau                          A thousand years in your sight
He ra Kotahi ia                                               are like one day
I rite ki te takiwa                                            Short as the watch that ends the night
Mataara o te po                                            Before the rising sun

Pahure haere, ana ra                                    Generations of the world
Nga iwi o te ao                                               Will pass away 
Anō, ko toku marama                                   But, my light
E tiaho atu nei                                                Continues to shine

E Te Atua, kia tata koe                                  O God, our help in ages past
He kaiawhina mai                                         Our hope for years to come
Matariki ki runga ra                                       Matariki above
Whetu o te tau                                               Star of the year

Additional resources on Matariki:

• A whole week of resources on Matariki from Kids Greening Taupo’s Online Nature Classroom.

• Matariki resources from Te Wananga O Aotearoa.

• Learn about Matariki with Dr Rangi Matamua from Living by the Stars.

• Te Papa Tongarewa | Museum of New Zealand’s resource page on Matariki.

• The Parenting Place’s Ideas for celebrating Matariki with your whānau.

An Open Education session on “Methodism, Matariki and the Māori Christ” with Rev Dr Wayne Te Kaawa, Lecturer in Maori Theology, University of Otago, Dunedin, at the Mornington Methodist Church, Dunedin, New Zealand, on 21 July 2021.

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