It’s ironic that the man credited with creating public awareness about the country’s first indigenous public holiday has no time to celebrate it with his own family.
In the past, Professor Rangi Matamua (Tūhoe) would gather with his whānau to say karakia and have a meal together. But since Matariki became an official public holiday last year, his hectic schedule has kept him away from home.
As the chief government adviser on Matariki, he says, “These days, because of my role, I’m attending major, elaborately organised karakia and hautapu [dawn ceremonies] around the country.”
The tireless work and commitment have paid off, though, with Matariki having been embraced throughout the country by Māori and Pākehā alike. A recent survey found that 51% of New Zealanders – more than two million people – have done something to acknowledge and celebrate the Māori New Year, which starts when the cluster of nine stars called Matariki rises in midwinter.
Traditionally, it was an occasion to mourn the dead, celebrate the present and prepare the ground for the coming year’s harvest. These days, Kiwis take part in cultural ceremonies, from hautapu and karakia, when the nine Matariki stars are first visible in the sky, to organising meals with close friends and whānau.
Matamua’s role involves being the cultural expert in all government Matariki initiatives and helping to promote the holiday nationwide. Last year alone, he spent 42 weeks away from his Hamilton home.
This year, his work was acknowledged when he was named New Zealander of the Year ahead of All Blacks legend and mental health advocate Sir John Kirwan, Black Fern Ruby Tui and entertainers Dames Jools and Lynda Topp.
“It’s a privilege and honour to find myself in a position to have an influence and support the development of our nation,” he says. He was also made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit last year, for services to Māori astronomy.
“In a couple of generations, we will look back upon Matariki and the launch of the first celebration and realise that our nation has come of age. I understand I’m part of something that’s bigger than me.”
Matamua, professor of mātauranga Māori at Massey University, has written cultural resources and karakia booklets for New Zealanders to download online to help them understand how they can celebrate Matariki in their homes.
“It’s about remembering the past and those we’ve lost, celebrating the present, and planning for the future,” he says.
Love of Sci-fi films
People may be surprised by what led to his fascination with the stars. It started with his love for 80s sci-fi films and TV shows such as Star Wars and Dr Who. He was captivated by the special effects and depictions of different galaxies. He was also intrigued by the storytelling.
“I loved how the science and scientific principles were embedded in the stories and narratives.”
Born and raised in Levin, Matamua, 49, learnt the cultural traditions from his Tūhoe elders. He was educated at Hato Pāora College, a Māori boys’ boarding school in Feilding, before embarking on an academic career in Māori studies and philosophy.
It was during one of his breaks from Victoria University of Wellington in the 90s that he became curious about ancient teachings of Matariki. He asked his grandfather, Jim Moses, about it. Moses left the room and came back with a 400-page manuscript in te reo Māori. It had been produced over many years in the 19th century by Moses’ grandfather, Rāwiri Te Kōkau, and father, Te Kōkau Himiona Te Pikikōtuku, and is an astronomical record containing the names of 1000 stars and 103 constellations.
“It was extensive. There was so much information and knowledge, tribal history and science. I was so captivated by the information that it took me years to go through it.”
In 2002, the work became Matamua’s life passion, after his grandfather made a deathbed plea. “He told me I needed to find a way to share the information, that knowledge that isn’t shared isn’t knowledge. I didn’t know how I was going to honour him. I’ve spent my entire life pursuing his dying wish.”
With the manuscript in his possession, Matamua widely studied Matariki, which led to his first book, Matariki: The Star of the Year, in 2017. He also set out to explain conflicting information between traditional Māori teachings and European traditions.
In the Māori world, for example, there are nine stars in the cluster that begins the new year, which contrasts with the seven associated with the Pleiades in European tradition. His research also revealed that some of the Māori astronomical lore recorded by ethnographer Elsdon Best in the late 19th and early 20 centuries had been incorrectly translated.
Matamua received his PhD in 2006 with a thesis that studied Māori radio and the revitalisation of te reo Māori. He’s often credited as a cultural astronomer, but he’s the first to admit he has no formal astronomy training from a Western perspective. His knowledge comes purely from a mātauranga Māori lens, which, he says, should not be belittled.
“I was mentored by the likes of Sir Pou Temara, Professor Te Wharehuia Milroy, Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, and I sat next to the likes of Sir Mason Durie. They are some of the greatest minds of our generation and absolute gurus of te ao Māori.”
Indigenous knowledge
A fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, Matamua is critical of the way Western scientists have belittled traditional Māori knowledge.
He says, “The argument was that mātauranga Māori was not science, that it was a lesser form of knowledge. Indigenous knowledge systems have existed around the world since the beginning of humans and they are based on the simplest of scientific principles that all people can understand: observation, trial and error, location, recording, and refining.
“There are points where our Māori knowledge intersects with Western science, and there are points where our knowledge stands alone. It should be allowed to stand alone as its own way of knowing and being.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in a laboratory working with some gas under the Bunsen burner or if your understanding is that a particular star will rise in the east before the sun, that it will coincide with a particular plant that a particular bird will come to nest [in], that you know it’s time to harvest that bird. It’s all the same approach.”
Because of his expert knowledge, Matamua was asked to chair the Matariki Advisory Group that advised the government and decided how Matariki should be celebrated nationally. The group was integral in making it a public holiday. He was also committed to ensuring Matariki was observed nationally with traditional Māori principles and values.
Jacinda Ardern, prime minister at the time, asked him if he thought New Zealand was ready to celebrate a traditional Māori holiday. “I replied that we are absolutely ready.
“Matariki has always been part of our landscape. It wasn’t brought here with the European settlers. It’s a connection to who we are.”
