The Maori Stars
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Matariki: Maori New Year
A celebration of Matariki, the Maori New Year, is suggested as a replacement for Queen's Birthday. Te Papa's Rangimoana Taylor sees Matariki as a recognition of the indigenous calendar and knowledge associated with the ancestors, stars and moon. Matariki is time of remembrance and celebration. Richard Hall, of the Carter Observatory, talks about the Sky God, Rangi, stretching across heavens from east to west and the importance of stars as navigational beacons for Maori. This story first screened on TVNZ's SUNDAY programme on 9th Jun 2002. Video supplied by the NZTV Archives.
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Matariki: The Maori Stars
Reporter Fiona Apanui interviews Kay Leather from the Carter Observatory about the Maori New Year marked by the appearance of Matariki or the Pleiades, a star cluster which rises over the Southern Hemisphere horizon at the beginning of June. Kay discusses the history of astronomy for Maori and cultures around the world, pointing out that the Subaru logo is actually the Pleiades cluster of stars. This interview is from the TVNZ series MAI TIME first transmitted on 28th June 2003. Video supplied by the NZTV Archives.
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Maori Star Lore
In 1966 C. Kingsley Smith prepared a story about how Maori saw the stars and the planets and the importance to them in mythology and prediction of weather and the seasons. This article is provided courtesy of the RASNZ and has been scanned from the original Southern Stars journal.
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Maori Star Lore
From the Phoenix Society's website.
Tohunga Maori - Maori wise men and women - with a special knowledge of the stars spent much time studying the stars. The movement of nga whetu - the eternal shining ones - followed a seasonal cycle so that their rising and setting marked the progression of the seasons. Certain stars were said to bring the seasons into existence and to send down to the earth the foods that became available at the times of the year associated with them. Such links were the basis of the celestial calendar.
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Chris Hilder
There are no definitive Maori names for particular stars - this list has been compiled by the Phoenix Society to put names to actual stars and groups of stars. The various tribes often have different names and different traditions. It is probable that each tribe had its own names for something in the vicinity of 300 stars, with some names being used more universally throughout Aotearoa. These 'universal' names were often used for different stars by different tribes. To add to the complexity some stars were given different names at different times of the year or when appearing in different parts of the sky. Several Maori star names have been recorded and published - most with no indication of which tribes made use of the names and most not identified with specific stars.
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Matariki - Pleiades
Matariki is the star cluster that heralds the start of the Aotearoa Pacific New Year and is important to Maori and Pacific people and other cultures around the world. Matariki is visible to the naked eye on a clear winter evening after the full moon from early to late June each year. This page from the Maori Language Commission and the other linked pages about Matariki are here to provide you with information about the Maori New Year, to advise what others are doing to celebrate Matariki and give you some ideas for your own celebrations.
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