Kotahi te wā ia takurua ka kōhiti a Matariki ki te rangi. I te ao Māori, koianei ia te tohu mō te tīmatanga o te tau hōu; he wā tēnei hei tangi i ngā mate, hei whakanui i te ao mārama. I tēnei te mano tau 2000, kua manaakitia anōtia a Matariki e te tini. Ko ētahi o ngā kaupapa whakanui i a ia, ko te tuku manu aute (pākau), pūangi hā wera, taputapu pahū hoki.
Ko Matariki te huinga whetū e kīia ana e te Pākehā, ko Pleiades, ko Seven Sisters rānei. Ka marewa a Matariki i Aotearoa kei waenganui i te paunga o Mei te tīmatanga rānei o Hune. Hei te ata pō ka kitea a Matariki i te pito o Te Ika-whenua-o-te-rangi (Milky Way), e roko marewa ana i te pae o te uru-mā-rāwhiti. Koinei te tohu ki te Māori mō te tau hōu.
Kei tēnā iwi, kei tēnā iwi āna tikanga, tōna wā hei whakanui i a Matariki. Ko ētahi iwi ka whakanui i tōna putanga tuatahitanga, ko ētahi iwi ka tatari kia hua te marama, ko ētahi atu iwi ka tatari kia kōwhiti te marama hōu.
Heoi, kei tēnā iwi, kei tēnā iwi Māori āna waiata, āna whakataukī whakanui i a Matariki. Kei tēnei waiata e whakaatu ana i te whanaungatanga o Matariki ki a Whānui (Vega):
Ka puta Matariki ka rere Whānui
Ko te tohu tēnā o te tau e!
He pānga tō Matariki ki te ihu o Hine-takurua (winter solstice). I o te ihu o Hine-takurua, i te haerenga whakateraki-mā-rāwhiti o Tamanui-te-rā kia tae ki te pito whakateraki-mā-rāwhiti rawa o te pae o te rangi, ka puta a Matariki. Kia tae ki te pae o te rangi, ka huri, ka hīkoi whaka-te-tonga te rā.
E ai ki te iwi Kariki, ko ngā whetū o Matariki ngā tamāhine tokowhitu a Pleione rāua ko Atlas – ko Electra, ko Maia, ko Taygete, ko Alcyone, ko Celaeno, ko Asterope, ko Merope. Tērā te wā e haere ana te tokowhitu nei i te ngahere, ka kitea, ka whāia rātou e Orion. E puta ai rātou, ka whetūrangitia te tokowhitu nei e Zeus. Kei te Acropolis i Ātene ētahi temepara tūroa e anga atu ana ki te wāhi roko marewa ai a Matariki.
E rua ngā tikanga o te kupu Matariki, ko ngā ‘mata ariki’, ko ngā ‘mata riki’. Tērā tētahi kōrero e mea ana, i te wehenga o Rangi rāua ko Papa e ā rāua tamariki, ka riri a Tāwhirimātea, te atua o ngā hau. I tana kaha riri, ka tīkaro e ia ōna whatu, ka maka ki te rangi. Tērā anō tētahi atu kōrero e whakarite ana i a Matariki ki tētahi whāea me ana tamāhine tokoono, a Tupu-ā-nuku, a Tupu-ā-rangi, a Waitī, a Waitā, a Waipuna-ā-rangi, a Ururangi. Arā anō he kōrero mō te manaaki a Matariki rātou ko āna tamāhine i a Tamanui-te-rā, e ngenge ana i tana hīkoitanga mai te raki i te takurua.
Ka whakapono ētahi iwi Māori, ko te putanga o Puanga (Rigel) kē te tohu ki te tau hōu a te Māori, kāpā ko Matariki. Koirā te takenga o te rerenga kōrero ‘Puanga kai rau’, mō te nui o te kai i tēnei wā o te tau. Nā tētahi koroua i whakamārama te take mō ēnei rerekētanga ki a Te Pēhi, arā, ‘Ko te mahi a Puanga he whakataetae me Matariki kia kitea ko wai ka whiwhi i ngā painga o te tau’. 1
I ngā wā o nga tūpuna, he tohunga te Māori ki te tātai arorangi hei tohu i te wā, hei tohu i ngā wāhanga o te tau, hei ārahi hoki i ngā haerenga i ngā ara o te moana. Ka whakanohoia he tāngata hei mātaki i a Matariki ka roko marewa i te ata pō. He wā whakamaumahara tēnei i ngā take o te tau kua taha; he wā haumako, he wā hari.
Haere atu rā e koro ki te paepae o Matariki, o Rehua. Haere atu rā.
I ngā rā o mua ka puta a Matariki, ka tangi te iwi ki ngā mate o te tau kua pahemo. E kī ana tētahi kōrero, kei ngā whetū e iri ana ngā wairua o te hunga kua mene atu kei tua o te ārai. Ka kōrero tēnei kaumātua, a Rangihuna Pire mō te wā i kawea ia e ōna kauheke ki Kaūpokonui i te tonga o Taranaki, ki te mātaki i te putanga mai o Matariki:
Hei ētahi tau ka noho ngā kauheke mō ētahi pō, kia puta rā anō a Matariki. Kātahi ka tao tā rātou hāngī iti. Nō tā rātou kitenga i ngā whetū o Matariki ka tangi ngā kauheke, ka huaina e rātou ngā ingoa o te hunga i mate i te tau. Kātahi ka hukea tā rātou hāngi, kia tae te kakara o ngā kai ki te whakaora i ngā whetū kei te ngenge, kei te makariri. 1
Matariki atua ka eke mai i te rangi e roa,
E whāngainga iho ki te mata o te tau e roa e
Ka whakatō ngā Māori o nehe i ā rātou kai i runga i ngā tohu a Matariki. Ki te mārama te kite atu i ngā whetū o Matariki, he tohu tērā ka mōmona ngā kai; hei te marama o Hepetema ka whakatō i ngā kai. Ki te rehurehu, piripiri te āhua o ngā whetū, he tohu tērā mō te tau mātao, ā, hei te marama o Oketopa rā anō whakatō ai ngā kai.
He nui ngā kōrero mō Matariki. Ko ‘Matariki kāinga kore’ he kōrero mō te haere mutunga kore a Matariki i te rangi. Mō te nuinga o te tau kei te ngaro a Matariki i āna haere. Ko te marama o Mei anake te wā ka whakatā ia, arā, i te wā ka roku te marama. Ko ‘Matariki ahunga nui’ tētahi anō rerenga kōrero, he tohu ki te nui o te kai i te wā o Matariki. Inā te rerenga kōrero, ‘Ka kitea a Matariki, kua maoka te hinu’, he tohu mō ngā huahua ka mahia i tēnei wā.
Ngā kai a Matariki, nāna i ao ake ki runga.
Ka puta a Matariki i te mutunga o te hauhake, i te wā e nui ana te kai. He wā hari tēnei ki te Māori - ka hākari, ka hari, ka waiata, ka kanikani rātou hei whakanui i te tau tawhito me te tau hōu. I tua atu, he wā a Matariki mō te tuku manu aute kia rere ki te rangi, e tata ai rātou ki ngā whetū.
Mai i te taenga o te Pākehā ki Aotearoa tatū ki te rau tau 1900, he takei nui rawa atu a Matariki ki te Māori. Nāwai ā, ka memeha haere, ka memeha haere; nō te tekau tau atu i 1940 tū ai te whakanuinga whakamutunga o Matariki kei te mōhiotia. I te tīmatanga o tēnei rau tau, ka whakaaratia anōtia ngā kaupapa whakanui i a Matariki. Nā te kaha o ngā tautoko mō Matariki, kua puta te kōrero mō te whakakore i te rā whānau o te Kūini o Ingarangi, kia riro ai ki a Matariki taua rā hararei ā-motu.
I te tau 2000 ka whakahaerehia e Te Rangi Huata tētahi hui whakanui i a Matariki ki Heretaunga; e 500 ngā tāngata i tae atu. I te tau 2003, e 15,000 ngā tāngata ka puta atu. Hei tā Te Rangi Huata kei te nui haere, kei te kaha haere a Matariki, nā tana whakanui i ngā tikanga Māori hei whakakotahi i ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa: ‘Kua āhua rite a Matariki ki te Thanksgiving me te Halloween; ko te mea rerekē o Matariki, kei te whakanui ia i ngā tikanga a te Māori. Me kī pēnei au, ko te Thanksgiving ki Amerika, ko Matariki ki Aotearoa. 1
Ka piki anō te kaha o Matariki, ka piki anō te kaha o te manu aute Māori. E ai ki a Hekenukumai Pūhipi tohunga whakatere waka, ka puta a Matariki, ko te tikanga a ngā tīpuna o te Māori me ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, ka tukua he manu aute ki te pōhiri i a ia.
I te tau 2001, ka puta te puka a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me tā rātou tono kia tukua he manu aute kia rere i te rā tahi o te tau hōu. I ēnei rā, ko te hanga pākau tētahi o ngā mahi i ngā rā whakanui i a Matariki. I te hui whakanui i a Matariki ki Heretaunga, ka pahū ngā mumura, ka marewa ngā pūangi hei maumaharatanga ki ngā manu aute o ngā rā ki mua.
Hakaraia, Libby. Matariki: the Māori New Year. Auckland: Reed, 2004.
Te Tumu korero. Ngāruawāhia: Tūrongo, 1983.
http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/maori/
Ngā mātauranga a te Māori mō te tātai arorangi, tae atu ki ngā mahere, ngā ingoa o ngā whetū, ngā kōrero tuku iho.
http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/maori/downloads/matariki/MatarikiBooklet.pdf
He pae tukutuku tēnei nā Te Tāura Whiri i te Reo Māori mā ngā māhita me ā rātou ākonga.
http://www.tki.org.nz/m/r/hot topics/matariki.php
Nā Te Kete Ipurangi tēnei pae tukutuku. Kei konei ngā pānui whakamārama mō Matariki.
Nā Harry Dansey ngā kōrero mō tēnei tuhinga i te marama o Tīhema i te tau 1967, kei te putanga 61 o Te Ao Hou, he hautaka ka whakaputahia e Te Tari Māori ia hauwhā o te tau.