Tupuānuku represents kai grown in the ground.
Tupuārangi is associated with food that comes from the sky and is closely linked with birds.
Ururangi is the winds.
Waipuna-ā-rangi represents rainfall.
The other three stars have important emotional connections to us.
Matariki represents wellbeing.
Hiwa-i-te-rangi is known as the wishing star.
Pōhutukawa is the star that connects us with our loved ones who have passed.
There is a story about Te Waka o Rangi, a magical sky waka captained by Taramainuku - together they sail the night skies. They collect the souls of the dead in a huge net, to be kept safe there. When the Matariki star cluster rises in the dawn skies, Taramainuku turns the souls into stars and scatters them into the night sky.
This story was shared with me by Rangitaamo Tiahuia Takarangi when I was 8 years old. Aunty Rangi was a rangatira from Pūtiki. She was a weaver of people, a leader, a mentor and a close friend of my grandmother Maudie Reweti. Gentle and compassionate, she was a woman who loved to laugh. She had soft cheeks, gold in her teeth and her eyes twinkled like stars. I loved her. She would sneak lollies to me when my nana wasn’t looking.
During the Matariki ceremony we welcome the new year and farewell the old. We make a hautapu, an offering, of kai to Matariki and her children.
A fillet of fish for Waitā, an eel for Waitī, kūmara for Tupuānuku and chicken for Tupuārangi. When the kai is cooked, the lid is taken off the pot. The steam rises and feeds the stars. It is then that we call out the names of our loved ones so Taramainuku can turn them into stars.
On April 2, 1984, we lost one of our own in an accident on Pūtiki Dr. Nevine Waireti Meteking was just 9 years old, the beloved daughter of Jim and Mary and little sister of Moana, big sister of Pipiana, Tearai and Ngakita.
Her death left the hapori, the community of Pūtiki, numb and reeling. Everyone banded together to support the whānau. Durie Hill School closed during the tangi, which was held at Pūtiki Marae.
Afterwards, I walked home with my grandmother Maudie and Aunty Rangi. I was nearly 9 years old and very worried about my friend Nevine.
“Where is Nevine now?” I asked Aunty Rangi. She looked up into the night sky. “Nevine is up there, in Te Waka o Rangi. When the Matariki stars rise, Nevine will become a star.”
I still felt worried. “Who will look after Nevine? She is only 9!”
“The stars are our tūpuna, our ancestors. They will all look after Nevine, so you do not need to worry.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“Because I’m old.” Aunty Rangi replied. “I’m so old that I saw Haley’s comet when I was the same age as you are now, over 70 years ago.”
This August, 39 years after the accident, a baby girl is due to be born into the Metekingi whānau. This mokopuna has already been gifted, and will carry the name of her great aunt Nevine Metekingi, still remembered and still loved.
