This weekend New Zealand Aotearoa celebrated our first official Matariki public holiday. Apparently it is the first and or only known indigenous celebration to be made official in the colonised world.
Matariki is celestial so the timing varies like Easter. It is when the Matariki stars rise in the east. This cluster of stars is also known as Pleiades and the Seven Sisters.
It signifies the Maori New Year, a time to be with whanau (family), to think of those who have passed recently, to reflect on life and make plans for the future. It coincides with the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere signalling that the days will now get longer and it is time to plan and prepare for the next crops. Never a year went by without my mother reminding me about the shortest day and the relief of knowing that the days were now getting longer.
Manawatia a matarki - Happy Maori New Year.
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