Concerns about Matariki's 'bastardisation' raised, as Labour pledges new public holiday from 2022

Monday, 7 September 2020

Māori astronomy expert Professor Rangi Matamua became the first Māori to win of the Prime Minister's prestigious science prizes this year.

The Labour Party’s pledge to make Matariki a public holiday signals a “coming of age” for the nation, a professor says, but he has concerns about its potential “bastardisation”.

If re-elected, Labour will add the Māori New Year to the national calendar from winter 2022, commemorated on either a Monday or Friday, and coming almost 50 years since the last public holiday was introduced.

People on the streets of Christchurch share what they know - and in some cases, what they don't - about Matariki.

Unlike Waitangi Day which can polarise people, Professor Rangi Matamua, a noted Māori astronomer and University of Waikato academic, said Matariki is about “celebrating the changing of the season, the environment and one another”.

“I think Matariki has evolved from being a Māori celebration. It is now becoming part of our identity, because the way we celebrate Matariki is very unique to where we are in the world. It’s becoming part of growing identity.

ActionStation’s Laura O'Connoll Rapira handed over a petition to make Matariki a public holiday to Labour’s Rongotai MP Paul Eagle in July.

The 2019 Matariki Sky Show display in Wellington lit up the winter sky as people watched fireworks shoot up from along Wellington Harbour.

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The Matariki cluster will send Aotearoa a new public holiday in 2022.

* 30,000-strong petition to make Matariki a public holiday moves onto next stage

* Matariki public holiday petitions 'standing on the shoulders of giants'

Dr Dan Hikuroa, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Te Wānanga o Waipapa, has welcomed a pledge from Labour to make Matariki a national holiday from 2022.

“All cultures have an association and a connection to astronomy, and the lunar phases and the movement of the sun … I think if we’re living here, all of us have the ability to view and observe that change of season and celebrate it,” Matamua said.

The instigators of a petition which attracted 34,000 signatories calling for Matariki to be made a public holiday are claiming victory following Monday’s announcement, but warned the holiday could become commercialised.

ActionStation director Laura O’Connell Rapira – who launched a petition in May – believed the majority of New Zealanders wanted Matariki to become an official holiday, based on the results of a poll carried out earlier this year.

“This victory brings to everyone that has contributed to the revitalisation of Mātauranga Māori. Our ancestors are smiling with us today.

“While we are delighted about this announcement, we do have some remaining concerns about Matariki being co-opted and commercialised.

“It’s important for the government to ensure that how we commemorate Matariki is also informed by Māori experts in the Maramataka [the ancient Polynesian lunar calendar], not just when,” O’Connell Rapira said.

Matamua also raised concerns about the potential for the holiday’s “bastardisation”, saying he would be “very worried if it becomes very tacky and uncomfortable”.

“I am worried about the corporatisation and, in some ways, the commercialisation, but more so, the bastardisation of what Matariki can be where it’s such an important cultural practice that it becomes really watered down.

“Look at what we’ve done to Easter and Christmas, and some of these other celebrations as well. I think that, it doesn’t matter what we do, someone’s going to try and benefit from a commercial element.

“I have seen Matariki beer being produced. I’ve seen vegetable sales at Countdown. I think if it’s done with the best intentions and it’s about celebrating Matariki – because Matariki is connected to food and the environment and coming together – I don’t necessarily think culture and commerce are enemies,” Matamua said.

University of Auckland Te Wānanga o Waipapa senior lecturer Dr Daniel Hikuroa said integrating Matariki into the calendar will provide a point of difference to other holidays which are based on events or focused on commemorating people who aren’t from New Zealand.

“The difference with Matariki is that it’s drawn from a knowledge system that’s based on observations of those having lived in New Zealand for a very long time, so it’s very nice to have an opportunity to celebrate that.

“And it’s also an opportunity for New Zealanders to learn about the rigour and the accuracy, the precision and the elegance which is Matariki,” Hikuroa said.

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern said “the time has come” for the Māori New Year to be celebrated.

“Matariki will be distinctly New Zealand holiday and a time for reflection, celebration and to look to the future as we take increasing pride in our unique national identity.

“We don’t have many statutory holidays compared to other OECD countries and it would be good to break up the long run through winter,” Ardern said.

If elected, Labour said it will work with a group of academics and experts to plan out when the exact dates of the public holiday will happen.