How did an ancient Māori stargazing tradition become Aotearoa/New Zealand’s mid-winter public holiday?

In the cold pre-dawn hours of an early July morning, Ian Griffin stopped his car on the shore of Otago Harbor on Aotearoa/New Zealand’s South Island and contemplated the stars.

“The harbor was perfectly still—not a ripple on it—and there, low in the northeast, Matariki was rising,” he tells me.

As an astronomer, Griffin knew exactly what he was looking at. “Matariki is a beautiful group of young stars, about 440 light years away… I can explain how it formed, how far away it is, why it appears in the winter sky. But standing by that still water, I was reminded that astronomy is only part of the story.”

Griffin was on his way to attend Matariki Ahuka Nui, a dawn event at the Tūhura Otago Museum, which explores nature, culture and science, in Ōtepoti/Dunedin on the South Island’s southeast coast. He had grown up in England knowing the star cluster as Pleiades, its northern hemisphere name. In Aotearoa, where he is now a citizen and has been the Tūhura Otago museum’s director since 2013, it’s known as Matariki, and marks the arrival of the Māori New Year.

While Māori people have always marked the rising of Matariki, it’s only in recent years that the celestial event has been officially recognized and celebrated across the country. In 2022, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared it a national public holiday—it’s believed to be one of the first Indigenous celebrations in the world to be recognized in this way.

Four years on, many non-Māori New Zealanders are still learning what it’s all about. As a New Zealander now living in Australia, it’s a revelation to me too, so I’m in Ōtepoti, one of the largest cities in the South Island, to learn more.

“Matariki is a reclamation of a set of Māori values and traditions. The remembrance aspect is an important part of the grieving process … It’s not just the day of the holiday, but a time of year that we can all acknowledge our grief in our own ways.”

- Paulette Tamati-Elliffe, local iwi leader

The constellation is visible here for 11 months of the year, but disappears from the skies for a month in winter before reappearing around the time of the winter solstice. Its rising is interpreted by many iwi (Māori tribes) as the end of one full cycle of the seasons and the beginning of the next. In Māori culture, the stars of Matariki are tied to planting, harvesting and hunting. If the stars appear clear and bright, it signifies an abundant season ahead. Hazy stars are a harbinger of cold weather and poor crops.

Matariki celebrations are centerd on three principles: Remembrance of those who have died in the past year; celebrating the present with family and friends; and looking to the future promise of a new year.

Our day begins with the gathering of around 200 people, standing in the morning darkness in front of the Tūhura Otago Museum. Many are carrying framed photographs of loved ones who died during the preceding year. In the hush, a karakia (Māori ritual chant) rings out to begin the ceremony—an incantation that is both prayer and blessing.

Although I don’t understand the Māori words, the effect is spine-tingling. There are speeches and songs, many of them in te reo Māori, and a whakamaumahara—a commemoration where those in the crowd call out the name of loved ones whose photographs they hold up. Tears run down the cheeks of an elderly Māori woman in front of me as a younger woman comforts her.

Local iwi leader Paulette Tamati-Elliffe says remembrance is the most important aspect of Matariki, told through the story of the celestial navigator Taramainuki, who gathers the souls of the dead into his waka (canoe) throughout the year. At the rising of Matariki, he releases them into the night sky as stars.

“Matariki is a reclamation of a set of Māori values and traditions,” says Tamati-Elliffe. “The remembrance aspect is an important part of the grieving process, and we’ve had a lot of wonderful feedback from the public about this. It’s not just the day of the holiday, but a time of year that we can all acknowledge our grief in our own ways.”

She says Matariki is also a time to rest, reflect on the past year and plan ahead. “Here in Aotearoa, the public holiday gives value to our Indigenous culture and enables us to share knowledge, understanding and a view of the world that enriches all our lives,” she says. “It uplifting for our iwi, and it is a privilege and a responsibility to support the wider community over this time.”

Afterwards, a free breakfast is served to all. Rooted in a tradition of serving food that comes from the garden, forest, fresh water and the sea, it’s represented today by bircher muesli with berry compote, kumara (sweet potato) hash topped with mushrooms, plus salmon bagels and fish bites. Another local Māori leader, Komene Cassidy, says the holiday is important for Aotearoa as it reclaims a southern hemisphere “sense of time.”

“Many of the holidays we celebrate, such as Easter or New Year, have been transported from the northern hemisphere,” he tells me. “Celebrating Matariki is a keystone of thinking about Indigenous knowledge and sharing and supporting that knowledge in Aotearoa. It also means thinking about current pressures on the environment; our forebears were much more connected to the environment than we are today.”

The Matariki star cluster contains hundreds of stars, only nine visible to the naked eye. The brightest star, Matariki, is the mother of the other eight, who each represent an aspect of the fortunes of the coming year.

Now, all around Aotearoa, events are held to mark the Māori New Year. Communal feasts, restaurant menus making the most of Indigenous ingredients, live performances and storytelling sessions, art exhibitions, night markets, light shows, fireworks displays and street parties are among the many events you’ll see around the country.

In Aotearoa’s largest city, Auckland, a Matariki concert featured the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and young Māori artists singing well-known English songs translated into te reo Māori, while further north, Feast Matariki in the Bay of Islands celebrated food and community. In Christchurch, guided night walks through week-long light display of nine Matariki star installations were part of celebrations in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor.

In Ōtepoti, the Matariki Ma Puaka festival attracts throngs of people for a free family event at the city’s sports stadium. While food trucks serve up everything from fish and chips to curries and traditional hangi food (cooked in an earth pit), a Māori kapa haka (song and dance) group provides a warm-up act for the electric energy of Kiwi singer Tiki Taane, who belts out a repertoire of crowd-pleasers.

Everyone stops to admire a new large-scale mural on the stadium’s wall—Matariki Messenger, painted by North Island-based artists Ephraim Russell, who is Māori, and Mikal Carter (also known as SwiftMantis), shows a native nocturnal bird, the ruru (or morepork, a small brown owl), gliding through the night sky toward the Matariki constellation. The evening culminates in a spectacular drone show featuring images of native birds, mountains, a Māori waka (canoe) and the star cluster.

Many Matariki celebrations feature stargazing sessions. On the eve of Matariki, I head to the landmark Dunedin Railway Station—said to be the most photographed building in the country for its Renaissance-style architecture—to board the Taieri Gorge Stargazer train, an occasional service designed to showcase some of the stargazing experiences in Central Otago, which is currently seeking DarkSky accreditation.

Tonight, clouds obscure the view, but we peer through telescopes, watch a short astrophotography film and console ourselves with hot chocolate as we listen to stories of the stars, according to Māori legend.

The Matariki star cluster contains hundreds of stars, only nine visible to the naked eye. The brightest star, Matariki, is the mother of the other eight, who each represent an aspect of the fortunes of the coming year. Pohutukawa is associated with mourning, while Waiti, Waita, Tupuanuku and Tuparaki represents freshwater, saltwater, the earth and the sky and the food each provides. Waipuna-a-raki is the rain and Ururaki represents the winds. Hiwa-i-te-raki represents our wishes and aspirations for the future.

Aotearoa’s skies are renowned for their lack of light pollution so it’s not surprising they’re home to two DarkSky Reserves, five DarkSky Sanctuaries and three DarkSky Parks. Ōtepoti is already preparing for 22 July 2028—eight days after Matariki—when it will be one of the best places on Earth to view a total solar eclipse.

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