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Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars known to Western astronomers as the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. Matariki is a shortened version of Ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea, "the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea". [1]
In Māori culture, Matariki is the name of the Pleiades star cluster, which was important for agriculture in establishing the correct time to plant crops. There are two explanations of the name Matariki: firstly, mata-riki (small eyes) or mata-ariki (Eyes of God). The constellation is also believed to have been used by navigators.
Matariki is the name of the Pleiades star cluster in Māori culture in New Zealand, and also a public holiday of the same name. Matariki may also refer to: Matariki, a 2010 New Zealand drama film; Matariki Court, a specialist court based in Kaikohe, Northland Region; Matariki Hospital, Te Awamutu, Waipa, New Zealand
Labour won the election, and in February 2021 Ardern announced that Matariki would become an annual public holiday with a variable date (June or July). [11] The Matariki Public Holiday Bill received royal assent on 11 April 2022. [12] The first Matariki public holiday was observed on 24 June 2022. [13]
The Moon's phases are used to define the main subdivision of the year (maramataka). The timing of the New Year varied regionally across New Zealand, but was often based around the Pleiades star cluster (Matariki). Some iwi, for example, used the first new moon after the appearance of Matariki as the start of the new year. [19]
Māori cultural history intertwines inextricably with the culture of Polynesia as a whole. The New Zealand archipelago forms the southwestern corner of the Polynesian Triangle, a major part of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: the Hawaiian Islands, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and New Zealand (Aotearoa in te reo Māori). [10]
Rangiānehu Mātāmua ONZM is a New Zealand indigenous studies and Māori cultural astronomy academic and is Professor of Mātauranga Māori at Massey University.He is the first Māori person to win a Prime Minister's Science Prize, is a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, and is the chief advisor to the New Zealand Government on the public holiday Matariki.
Since 2013, the annual Te Ara Rama Matariki Light Trail has been hosted in Glen Innes in celebration of Matariki, the Māori new year. [15] It is an outdoor public lighting festival that runs throughout Maybury Reserve, and typically takes place over nine nights, representing the nine stars of Matariki . [ 16 ]