Mānawatia a Matariki - Māori New year

This week in Aotearoa (New Zealand) a cluster of stars known as Pleiades appears in the mid-winter morning sky and marks the beginning of the Māori New Year, or Te Mātahi o te Tau. Matariki is a time to gather to remember those who have passed on, celebrate the present and plan for the future.

 The stars have always played a vital role into every facet of life and have guided everything from navigating the mighty Pacific Ocean, guiding when to plant and harvest food and when ceremony is to take place. This knowledge has been handed down through the generations.

 Recently the Pacific Storytelling team had the privileged of visiting the Dark Sky Project in Lake Takapo to visit the Summit Experience run by South Island Tribe Ngai Tahu. We were expertly guided through the muti-media installations across the solar system before heading up to the MT John observatory to see the UNESCO dark sky reserve.

 To learn more about Matariki we recommend visiting the website Te Wananga o Aotearoa website, as they reveale new aspects of Matariki every day.