Matariki

MATARIKI

(click on this link to access our learning on our class site)

We have been learning all about Matariki.

In the Māori language, Matariki is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and also of the season of its first rising in late May or early June.

What is Matariki?

Matariki is the Māori name for a group of stars. The science name is the Pleiades and instead of ‘group’ they call it a star cluster.

It signalled the start of the Māori New Year for some tribes. Maori people followed a lunar calendar. That means that the months were organised around the moon. Marama is the name for moon. That is why the calendar is called Maramataka.

When is Matariki?

Matariki appears just before dawn in late May or early June. However this year it can be seen between 13-20 July 2020. Different tribes celebrated Matariki at different times. Some celebrated when it was first seen. Some celebrated at the first new moon or full moon after the Matariki was seen. We now celebrate Matariki as the new Maori year, when the first full moon is seen.

Matariki is a happy event – crops had been harvested and seafood and birds had been collected. With plenty of food in the storehouses, Matariki was a time for singing, dancing and feasting.

The students have been creating different ways to share their Matariki learning from animations on Scratch or Google Slides, to posters on and offline and lots of art work. The students really enjoyed making and flying manu tukutuku .

MANU TUKUTUKU Kites have been around for thousands of years, appearing in most ancient cultures, and kite flying has been a popular pastime for Maori, young and old. The name given to Maori kites is manu tukutuku. Manu means both bird and kite, tukutuku refers to winding out the line. Kites were flown to celebrate the start of the Māori New Year, when Matariki (the Pleiades) appeared in the mid-winter night sky.