Matariki in the Bay of Plenty: Ceremony atop the summit of Mauao among several free events this weekend

The hīkoi to the summit of Mauao will take place on Friday morning. Photo / George Novak

Bay of Plenty residents are invited to celebrate Matariki this week with several free events taking place to celebrate Māori culture, language, and identity,

Matariki is on Friday and is the nationally recognised Māori New Year.

Matariki is a constellation of stars that appears in the night sky in the middle of winter, bringing the lunar year to a close and heralding the start of the Māori New Year - Te Tau Hou Māori.

This cluster of stars, known as the Pleiades, is given the Māori name Matariki, which in Māori translates to the “eyes of God” (mata ariki) or “little eyes” (mata riki).

An early morning hīkoi [walk] to the top of Mauao is taking place on Friday.

Aurere Thatcher, an organiser for the hīkoi, said it was open to everyone and people were asked to meet at the summit of Mauao at 6am.

The maumaharatanga [memorial] ceremony would then take place and would start with a karakia [prayer,] she said.

Master Celestial Navigator Jack Thatcher will kōrero about the significance of Matariki. Photo / George Novak

Her father, Jack Thatcher, would kōrero on the significance of Matariki.

Aurere said the ceremony was a chance to “call out” to loved ones who had died in the past year.

She said about 1500 people attended the ceremony last year and she was expecting a similar turnout on Friday.

After the ceremony, attendees were invited for breakfast - soup and fry bread - at their marquee at the Mount Maunganui campground.

“Matariki is about remembering those who have passed in the year, celebrating with those who are here today ... but also looking forward to the future and how we can better look after each other.

“It’s all about the past, the present, and the future, in my opinion. And each star kind of represents that.”

On Saturday, a free Matariki concert featuring Kiwi band Red Street would be held at the creative community campus at The Historic Village, a Tauranga City Council press release said.

On Sunday, the campus would host a whare manu and feeder workshop where attendees would learn how to build a decorate a wharu manu [bird house] and feeder to help look after the manu [birds] in their neighbourhoods.

Between July 17 and 19, there would be the Matariki ki Mauao school workshops at the base of Mauao.

Schools would focus on basic knowledge of Matariki, utilising the maramataka (lunar calendar) to assist with cultivating and harvesting kai grown in the soil, planting on Mauao, discovering the rongoā and native plants that grow on Mauao, the press release said.

As the Māori New Year arrives, Waiata Anthems honour the rising of Matariki with new waiata [songs] from emerging artists who have shared their experience of creating reo Māori music.

Musician Nikora Edwards, also known as Swizl Jager, was born and raised in Tauranga Moana. His new bilingual waiata Hīnaki is about putting in the mahi to achieve your goals, a Waiata Anthems media release said.

“With writing songs in te reo Māori there is that extra pressure of people saying te reo is a beautiful language so you shouldn’t sing about partying on the weekend. But Māori have always been cheeky, our tūpuna were singing about what was happening in their lives, I am doing the same thing,” Edwards said.