Matariki – Māori New Year


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Matariki (the Pleiades)

Matariki (the Pleiades)

Matariki (the Pleiades)

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades. When it rises in the north-eastern skies in late May or early June, it signals to Māori that the New Year will begin. In one tradition, Matariki is the mother surrounded by her six daughters, Tupu-a-nuku, Tupu-a-rangi, Waitī, Waitā, Waipuna-a-rangi and Ururangi.

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Carter Observatory
Photograph by Mark Cannell

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