Matariki in Aotearoa/New Zealand

 The Pleiades Star Cluster - Photo Canva.com

In 2022 the government announced that Matariki, the celebration of the Māori New Year would become a public holiday making Aotearoa one of the few countries to recognize the importance of such a feast of its indigenous people. Matariki is the name of the central star in the cluster also known as Pleiades which rises over the horizon towards the end of June or in early July. For Māori, New Year is a time for people to remember the past honouring the dead, to celebrate the present by coming together to share food from earth, sea and sky thus recognizing that they are all products of nature, the environment in which we live and depend. Finally, it is a time to prepare for the future by studying the stars which have been the source of navigation for centuries and give indications of the seasons and the best time for planting and harvesting.

 The Māori, like indigenous people all over the world, have seen nature not as something to be controlled and dominated but as an integral part of their world. In his special encyclical, Pope Francis calls us to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. ''For them, land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values.'' (Laudato Si 146) 

As we celebrate Matariki on Friday 10th of July this year may it be a wakeup call for all of us to respect and care for our planet as we are becoming ever more aware of the drastic effects of human interference in the climate as we experience excessive rain bringing floods and destruction here and record heat waves and widespread forest fires in other parts of the world. May we all find ways to respect our world, not by abusing it but by using it gently for our good and the good of others. 

Mānawatia a Matariki. Let us welcome Matariki by looking up at the stars saying with Psalm 148, '' Sun and moon, and all you bright stars, you highest heavens, all you waters and creatures on earth, come praise the Lord.     

Fr Don Hornsey lives and works in Aotearoa/New Zealand