Tainui star lore shines through Matariki

Friday, 25 June 2021

Ngāti Wairere historian Wiremu Puke talks about the importance of Matariki and the maramataka.

The dawn sky has yet to throw its light on the world as a group of early-morning seekers journey to Te Parapara – New Zealand’s only traditional Māori productive garden.

Their walk takes them through Te Ara Whakataukī (the path of proverbs) and into the garden.

Framed by darkness, the figures, led by respected Tainui orator Rāhui Papa, trace a path around the garden’s inside perimeter before coming together for karakia opposite the garden’s pātaka.

The words of the karakia, spoken this morning by Bishop Sir David Moxon, reach out across the stillness and, as if by design, the clouds above the garden begin to shift to reveal several glinting stars.

* Superhero-themed exhibition at Waikato Museum explores the mysteries of Matariki

Māori astronomer Piripi Lambert at left and Ngāti Wairere historian Wiremu Puke stand underneath the predawn sky at Te Parapara. (Composite image)

* Following the stars: A journey deeper into Te Ao Māori recognised with honour

It’s a Friday and the pre-dawn ceremony in Hamilton is the first in a calendar full of events celebrating Matariki – the Māori New Year – during the months of June and July.

Matariki is the Māori name given to the cluster of stars also referred to as the Pleiades. During winter, the cluster is visible before sunrise in the northeast. Its appearance marks the end of one year and the start of another.

For the first time, Matariki will be marked with a public holiday on June 24 next year.

Educator Hauiti Gardiner shows you how to find the Matariki star cluster during the Māori New Year, which falls in the month of Pipiri (June–July).

Yet as public interest in Matariki grows – as reflected in the large predawn gathering at Te Parapara – figures in Māoridom say it’s important people understand the star lore of their local iwi.

Ngā tikanga whetū a Tainui | Tainui star lore

Ngāti Wairere historian Wiremu Puke says how and when Matariki is acknowledged differs across the country.

While some Māori acknowledge nine main stars, Tainui depict the Matariki cluster as having seven stars.

“Each hapū, each iwi had its own maramataka [Māori lunar calendar] and as we acknowledge … Matariki, it’s important to understand what does the local maramataka actually mean for us,” Puke says.

“The beauty of different iwi having their stories and narratives [is it] gives a very rich tapestry of how the stars were venerated.”

An esoteric version within Tainui depicts Matariki as having 12 stars. This sacred version is kept by certain protectors of the knowledge.

According to Tainui lore, Ranginui (sky) and Papatūānuku (earth) had Te Rā (the sun) who had Tāwhaki and Raumati (summer). Raumati slept with his grandmother, Papatūānuku, and had Puanga, Takurua and Matariki.

Matariki married Tongatonga, and together they had six daughters: Tupu-ā-rangi, Tupu-ā-nuku, Waitī, Waitā, Waipuna-ā-rangi and Ururangi.

Puke, left, and Lambert examine a collection of star charts.

The six daughters, together with Matariki, make up the seven stars of the cluster. Tongatonga is not counted as he is the dark space in the sky that surrounds the stars.

“Do you see how elegant that is, in terms of what we see?” Māori astronomer Piripi Lambert explains.

“When you go out to the ocean, when you go out to the east coast and watch the stars, you’ll see the dark come up. It will creep up as the sun sets in the west, and then the stars will slowly appear. That’s the marriage and the babies are the stars.”

Ngā Whetū Hiranga | Significance of the stars

The seven stars of Matariki are depicted on the sacred coat of arms of the Kīngitanga.

Lambert, who is of Ngāti Pāoa descent and married into Ngāti Māhanga, is a maramataka expert who specialises in ancient Tainui star lore. He knows the names of 300 stars and can locate 190 stars in the night sky from memory.

His study of ancient cosmology led him to learn about the stars. Much of this knowledge has been passed on to him through oral tradition.

“To understand Māori astronomy helps understand kōrero within the whare wānanga, that is our sacred secret schools of learning within our culture that was only reserved for an exclusive group of individuals who would be taught, who then became tohunga [an expert practitioner],” Lambert says.

The predominant kōrero within Tainui is to watch the rising of Matariki after the winter solstice.

While the maramataka traditionally helped guide many aspects of everyday life, its cultural importance can not be understated. Some tribes consider Māori astronomy to be the highest level of understanding within the whare wānanga, Lambert says.

“It’s not just about planting, it’s not just about fishing and eeling, when to gather kai, when to snare birds. The mana of our ancestors comes through the stars.”

Lambert’s point is echoed by Papa who spoke at the Matariki dawn ceremony at Te Parapara.

Wiremu Puke says the maramataka aligns well with scientific understandings. (Composite image)

“The seven stars [of Matariki] shelter the mana of today,” Papa says.

“The mana of today could not be what it is without the mana of yesterday, the mana of our heritage.”

The seven stars of the Matariki cluster are also represented on the sacred coat of arms of the Kīngitanga.

E tau ana te kohu | Here comes the mist

One of the challenges of studying the Matariki cluster in Waikato is the mist – or kohukohu – that clings to low-lying areas during the cooler winter months.

Geographical features can also obscure some from viewing the cluster.

Weaver Kay Patena creates a tīpare (headband) during a toi raranga (weaving) workshop, held as part of Matariki celebrations at Waikato Museum.

Yet, as Lambert and Puke explain, ancestors who sought out higher ground to view the stars ran the risk of encountering patupaiarehe – supernatural beings that were said to travel in the mist and dwell in the mountains.

“Early Pākehā historians used to record patupaiarehe as fairies but when you imagine a fairy it’s with little wings and a little wand,” Puke says. “That’s not what they are, these are supernatural deities.”

Cooked kūmara left in home windows and fire was used to ward off patupaiarehe.

The resurgence of interest in Matariki over the past three decades culminated in the successful push to have it marked with a public holiday.

Lambert predicts Matariki will unite the country and its people like no other event on the calendar.

“What I’ve seen is a real interest, not just from Māori, but a lot of it is actually from non-Māori,” Lambert says.

Kowhai seedlings were given out to attendees at the Matariki dawn ceremony at Hamilton Gardens.

“Our star lore and our understanding of the moon phases, our understanding of the seasons, our understanding of how nature works in conjunction with the stars and the moon, that has piqued everyone’s interest.

“I think New Zealanders want something that is purely theirs and Matariki is one of these events.”

Puke believes one of the attractions of the maramataka is it aligns well with scientific understandings.

“Traditionally, we had to observe the maramataka in order to survive here, to grow gardens and prepare soil,” Puke says. “It’s our form of science.”

And as Matariki becomes embedded in the public’s consciousness, the Tainui version must continue to be taught and shared in Waikato, they say.

“I’m constantly pushing the Tainui version,” Lambert says.

“We need to keep talking to those doing Matariki that they should stop pushing the nine stars of Matariki in this rohe.”

Te Paki o Matariki | The widespread calm of Matariki

Rahui Papa speaks at a Matariki breakfast event at Hamilton Gardens.

Although Matariki is celebrated as the start of the Māori new year, another important phase for Waikato River tribes is Te Paki o Matariki, in September and October, which marks the changing of seasons. During this time the kōwhai start to flower. This environmental indicator is used as a sign to start preparing gardens for the planting of kūmara.

During a visit to New Zealand in 1844, English explorer and naturalist George French Angas journeyed through Waikato and observed the river corridor awash with the yellow kōwhai flower. He also noted the local people wore the flower in their pierced earlobes.

Puke says the flowering kōwhai could serve as the basis of a unique festival and be marked with Waikato’s own anniversary weekend. It would avoid the colonial baggage associated with regional anniversary days and could replace Auckland Anniversary Weekend which Waikato observes.

“We could have events that acknowledge the cultivation and preparation of planting kūmara … and we could celebrate the things that we do as a region,” he says.

“Te Paki o Matariki is a time of coming out of the doldrums of winter to embrace new life. It’s a time of new growth and positiveness, and it could well and truly rival the cherry blossom festival in Japan.”

Ki te ao mārama | Into a brighter future

After the dawn ceremony at Te Parapara, those gathered head to the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion for breakfast. The predawn darkness has been replaced by a lacy morning light which reveals the faces of those gathered: the young and old, Māori and Pākehā.

Inside the pavilion, Papa gives listeners a “hitchhiker’s guide” to Matariki.

Matariki is about environmental protection, coming together and reflection, he says.

Although Matariki is born in the Māori culture, it is “an Aotearoa thing, not a Māori thing”.

And the female gender assigned to Matariki and her six daughters is not an example of reverse misogyny. Nor is it happenstance.

“Matariki is the symbol of yesterday and the herald of a brighter tomorrow. That duty of care and the promise of prosperity rests with Matariki,” Papa says.

“You heard our nannies this morning actually bringing the past to us. With the life-giving properties of the females, we are able to look forward into a brighter future.”