Across Aotearoa, Matariki celebrations are as treasured as the stars that inspired them. But few realise that iwi and hapū across the motu celebrate te ao Māori and the turning of the year in many different ways.
Spark has been celebrating Matariki for six years now through educational initiatives that centre around the Matariki star constellation. From an 0800 line where callers could listen to the immersive stories behind each of the Matariki stars, to a ‘digital sky’ where people shared messages about loved ones who have passed, who then became stars in that sky, to its most recent partnership with Māui Studios providing Māori artists with a platform to showcase their mahi through Spark’s first fully te reo Māori campaign.
This year, they’re celebrating Matariki by sharing the stories of a community that celebrates the Māori new year a little differently.
Spark has partnered with the marae of Parihaka – one of over 600 marae digitally connected through the Marae Connectivity Programme – to learn about and help connect New Zealanders with the stories and traditions of Puanga Kai Rau.
It would be difficult - impossible, perhaps - to observe Matariki rising at Parihaka. Its positioning means the Matariki constellation rises behind Taranaki maunga.
So, over the centuries, local celebrations have been centred around a bright star - Puanga, near the three stars of Tautoru (Orion’s Belt).
Taranaki whānau created a tradition known as Puanga Kai Rau, a festival of culture, food, gardening and arts. That all but disappeared until Maata Wharehoka – te ao Māori arts advocate - reclaimed the concept in 2008. The festival has blossomed: now, hundreds of Māori and non-Māori head to Parihaka every year to participate.
Committed to its role as a connector, Spark’s forthcoming social content series features Parihaka whānau, who share how they mark Matariki and illustrate the value of using technology to bring people together and share inter-generational mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge).
Artist Haoro Hond explains that Puanga is traditionally when people come together and lay seeds for the next harvest: “Also, we send our mate (deceased) who have passed on through the year to be adorned as stars in the night sky.
“Within te ao Māori, kai (food) is that vessel that helps bring people back to the world of the living and helps whakanoa (spiritually clear) them.
“The relativity of mahi toi (art) around this time of year is that while everyone is congregated together, it’s important we can utilise that time and space to create images and art that helps capture that memory – just as our ancestors did through carvings and tukutuku panels.
“Technology has played a big part in the evolution of my work,” he says. “The process of digitising toi Māori has helped grow and speed up my processes in a way that I’m no longer having to physically store drawing pads. It’s helped me cut down on costs for the things I need to be creative.
“In the future, I see the papakāinga (housing at the pā) being adorned with toi Māori (Māori art), messages and stories from my generation that can be utilised in a whole range of spaces at Parihaka.”
For Dr Ruakere Hond, it’s about the language. He has taught in immersion programmes for adult education and community-based projects to re-create te reo Māori speaking communities.
Puanga Kai Rau provides another opportunity for his community to come together with te reo Māori as a unifier in celebration of a new year full of intent and aspirations.
“The māra (garden) has a dedicated area for reo Māori only and Puanga acts as a conduit to encourage people to see the value of using reo Māori in context.
“There are so few places where reo Māori is normalised – we see it in kohanga reo and kura kaupapa but the average person can’t just walk into kura kaupapa off the street. So you have to try and find spaces for people from the community that want to just support kaupapa Māori with reo.
“We have lessons every week in the māra and ‘kapu kōrero’ where we have a coffee, learn some reo and then we put that reo into practice in the māra. This is all about building a speaker community and showing the value of waiata (songs), karanga (ceremonial call), karakia (prayers) and all of these taonga that our tūpuna were so passionate about.”
Alongside normalising the use of te reo Māori, Dr Ruakere says technology can enable whānau who no longer live in the rohe (region) to stay connected with their traditions and developments at the pā – both during Puanga Kai Rau and after.
“In future we’d like to be able to run a drone over the māra (garden) every month so we’re able to show how it changes and the work that’s being done for our communities so we’re able to develop a visual record of how the māra is developing.”
With hundreds attending the Puanga Kai Rau festival each year, helping to plant crops in the māra, he says it’s important they can see just how beneficial their mahi has been to nourish those within the community ongoing.
“Technology helps us connect with each other through social media allowing us to get information out about when things are taking place. We use a lot of online video-conferencing to connect with people from all around the country so they can participate and understand what our plans are too.”
He says it allows people to feel more connected and comfortable when they come home. “For whānau in Australia doing amazing work there, they can come back here and it’s as if they didn’t leave. They know the challenges and activities that are going on here, so everyone can expand their skillsets and share in the knowledge.”
To learn about how whānau Māori at Parihaka celebrate the Māori New Year, visit: Spark NZ (@spark_nz) Official | TikTok