Māori New Year: Matariki

Like most countries, Aotearoa/New Zealand celebrates New Year’s Eve on 31 December, following the Gregorian calendar. In fact, due to its time zone, the country is one of the first places in the world to welcome the new year. Māori culture has many iwi or tribes, each with its own linguistic and cultural tradition. All celebrate Matariki, Māori New Year, which occurs in June or July in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, when temperatures can fall to below 0°C. Each tribe marks Matariki in its own way.

In Māori cosmology, a profound spiritual connection exists between the people and the land. Matariki is the Māori name for the mother of a cluster of stars known as the Pleiades. Depending on the tribe, each of these sister stars has a different connection to the land, environment and Māori tribal culture. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, Matariki appears low on the north-eastern horizon just before dawn in midwinter, signalling the changing of the seasons. People watch the sky and wait for the stars to come out before beginning their Matariki celebrations. The exact date changes every year because it follows the Māori lunar calendar and astronomical observations. This year, Matariki will be observed on Friday 20 June.

CONNECTION TO THE STARS

Traditionally, Māori were expert navigators who used the stars to guide them, travelling great distances across the Pacific Ocean. They also used the sky to determine the best times for planting and harvestingcrops and the brightness of the Matariki stars was believed to predict the success of the year ahead: if the stars were bright, it meant there would be a good year; if they were dim, the year might be difficult and there could be food shortages. 

Following British colonisation, many Māori traditions were discouraged. By the 1940s, Matariki celebrations had nearly disappeared. The revival of Matariki as a national event only began in the 2000s, and in 2022 Matariki became a public holiday in New Zealand, and the first Indigenous holiday to be recognised nationwide. People celebrate Matariki in many ways. This includes organising festivals with waiata (songs), haka (dances) and karakia (prayers) as well as performances and fireworks. The haka is not merely a dance, it is also a challenge that invokes mana (cultural power) and commands respect. Māori also enjoy traditional foods like hāngī, a meal cooked underground in a Māori earth oven, and participate in pūrākau, or storytelling, to pass down Māori legends, traditions and knowledge.

FIRES AND OFFERINGS

Matariki is not only about new beginnings; it is also a time for remembering those who have died. Some Māori tribes hold special ceremonies where they call out the names of the deceased, guiding their spirits on the journey to the stars to join their ancestors. Some people light ritual fires at dawn to strengthen Matariki and encourage it to shine brightly. These fires, called ahi kā, symbolise the connection between past, present and future generations. Others make food offerings to the stars, believing this will bring good fortune.

Today, Matariki has become an important part of the identity of Aotearoa/New Zealand. It carries deep cultural and spiritual significance, blending astronomy, tradition and the idea of renewal: distinctly different from a New Year’s all about parties and resolutions!