Matariki – Maori New Year

Matariki, the Maori New Year, is rich with tradition.
Discover the importance of Matariki, and explore ways that you can celebrate the Maori New Year with your family.

What is Matariki?

Matariki is the Maori name for a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades constellation star cluster. 
Some people think of Matariki as a mother star with six daughters, and it is often referred to as the Seven Sisters.

Matariki appears in the eastern sky sometime around the shortest day of the year, and is thought to determine how successful the harvest crop will be in the coming season.
The brighter the stars, the more productive the crop will be.

What does Matariki mean?

Matariki has two meanings, both of which refer to the cluster of stars.
Mata Riki means Tiny Eyes, and
Mata Ariki means Eyes of God.

When is Matariki celebrated?

Matariki begins to rise in the last few days of May, and this symbolises the coming of the Maori New Year.
Some iwi (tribes) start celebrations when Matariki is first seen, however it is the first new moon after Matariki that officially signals the Maori New Year.
Some people celebrate the New Year on the day the new moon rises, and others celebrate on the day after the new moon.
Celebrations can last up to 3 days.

The Matariki new moon happens sometime in June.

Upcoming dates:
2014- 28 June

Why is Matariki important?

In years gone by, Matariki was thought to determine your crop for the coming season, and therefore it was important to recognise the part it played in nature’s cycle.
The disappearance of Matariki in Autumn, signaled the time to gather and preserve crops, and so was an important marker in the harvest calender.

Nowadays, Matariki is seen as an important time to celebrate the earth, and show respect for the land on which we live.

How is Matariki celebrated?

Traditionally Matariki was celebrated by gathering with whanau (family) and reflecting on the past. The festival’s connection to the stars provided an opportunity for families to remember their whakapapa (genealogy) and those ancestors who had passed away to the heavens.
Offerings were made to land-based gods who would help provide good crops, and new trees were planted to signal new beginnings.

Many of these traditional celebrations are still practiced today, however there are many others ways that Matariki is celebrated also.
Most celebrations focus around music, song, dance, food and family, and celebrations can last up to 3 days.

How do communities recognise Matariki?

Matariki is a good opportunity for Maori to share their stories and culture with the wider community, and many events and activities are planned throughout the country to share and celebrate Matariki.

Some common events and activities include:

Concerts and cultural performances
Art exhibitions
Art and Craft Workshops
The sharing of myths and legends
Astronomy Workshops
Hangi and Feasts
Dawn Ceremonies
Family Days
Tree Planting in Conservation Areas
Whakapapa (Genealogy) Workshops
Cooking Demonstrations

How can you celebrate Matariki with your family?

There are lots of ways you can celebrate Matariki with your family, and in doing so, start your own family traditions.

Some ideas to get you started include:

A Family Feast

Make Matariki a time when the whole family gets together to feast and give thanks.
It may be a nice opportunity to explore traditional Maori food like hangi and rewena (Maori bread).

A New Harvest

Use Matariki as a time to clear the winter vegetables, and prepare your vegetable garden for the new planting. It could become a family tradition to do the gardening altogether – at least for one day of the year.

Tree Planting

Contact your local Department of Conservation to find out if there are any regeneration projects happening in your area. Organise to plant a tree on Matariki, or better still, get together with a group of friends and plant several.

Sleep Under the Stars

Spend a night sleeping under the stars (or under a tent!), and tell your own family stories. You may want to talk about family memories, or create goals for the coming lunar year.

New Years Resolutions

Most of us create New Years Resolutions in January, but by the time June rolls around they are long forgotten. Why not use Matariki as a time to renew your resolutions.

Attend a Matariki Event

Matariki events are held right throughout the country, and new comers are usually welcomed as people are eager to share their culture. To find out what Matariki events are happening in your area, contact your local Marae or Maori Trust.

Happy New Year.


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Related Websites

www.matarikievents.co.nz

Matariki website by New Zealand Maori Tourism Council which includes a comprehensive list of Matariki events within every region around New Zealand.

www.nzonscreen.com/collection/the-matariki-collection

A collection of New Zealand television content focused around Matariki.


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NOTA:

As Pleiades são um grupo de estrelas na constelação do Touro.
As Pleiades, também chamadas de aglomerado estelar (ou aglomerado aberto) M45 são facilmente visíveis a olho nu nos dois hemisférios e consistem de várias estrelas brilhantes e quentes, de espectro predominantemente azul. As Pleiades tem vários significados em diferentes culturas e tradições.

O cluster é dominado por estrelas azuis quentes, que se formaram nos últimos 100 milhões de anos.
Há uma nebulosa de reflexão formada por poeira em torno das estrelas mais brilhantes que acreditava-se a princípio ter sido formado pelos restos da formação do cluster (por isto receberam o nome alternativo de Nebulosa Maia, da estrela Maia), mas hoje sabe-se que se trata de uma nuvem de poeira não relacionada ao aglomerado, no meio interestelar que as estrelas estão atravessando actualmente.
Os astrónomos estimam que o cluster irá sobreviver por mais 250 milhões de anos, depois dos quais será dispersado devido a interacções gravitacionais com a vizinhança galáctica.

O núcleo do aglomerado tem um raio de cerca de oito ano-luz e uma raio da maré de cerca de 43 anos luz. O aglomerado inclui mais de 1.000 membros confirmados estatisticamente, embora este valor exclui estrelas binárias não resolvidas. É dominada por jovens e quentes estrelas azuis, 14 podem ser vistas a olho nu dependendo da observação e das condições locais.
O arranjo das estrelas mais brilhantes é algo semelhante a Ursa Maior e Ursa Menor.
A massa total contida no aglomerado é estimada em cerca de 800 massas solares.

O aglomerado contém muitas anãs casdtanhas, que são objectos com menos de cerca de 8% do da massa do Sol, não possuem massa suficiente para a fusão nuclear (para iniciar reacções em seus núcleos e tornar-se estrelas).
Podem constituir até 25% da população total do aglomerado, embora elas contribuem com menos de 2% da massa total.
Os astrónomos têm feito grandes esforços para encontrar e analisar anãs castanhas nas Pléiades e de outros jovens "aglomerados", porque são ainda relativamente brilhantes e observáveis, enquanto que anãs castanhas nos aglomerados são mais "apagadas" e muito mais difíceis de estudar.

As nove estrelas mais brilhantes nas Pleiades tem os nomes das Sete Irmãs da mitologia grega: Asterope,
Mérope,
Electra,
Celeno,
Taigete,
Maia e
Dríope,
junto com os seus pais, Atlas e Pleione.
Como filhas de Atlas, as híades eram irmãs das Plêiades.
O nome do aglomerado é em si de origem grega, apesar da etimologia não estar clara.
Algumas derivações incluem: de πλεîν plein, navegar, fazendo das Plêiades "as navegantes"; de pleos, cheio ou muitos; ou então de peleiades, bando de pombas.