Whanganui Regional Museum offering talks on Puanga

Lisa Reweti with a class from Okoia School. Photo / Mike Tweed

Whanganui Regional Museum is running lessons for children and a lecture for adults to help people understand the meaning and history of Matariki (Māori New Year).

It takes place between July 13 and 16 this year.

Museum public programmes presenter Lisa Reweti said that while other parts of the country celebrated Matariki (the star cluster Pleiades or the Seven Sisters), Whanganui and Taranaki celebrated Puanga (the star Rigel), which rises before Matariki.

"When Matariki rises it signals the shortest day of the year," Reweti said.

"When you see Puanga in the sky, you know that Matariki is on its way.

"It was an alarm clock back in the old days to show us that the coldest part of winter was starting, and it was the cut-off point for food gathering.

"Hopefully your food storage houses were full and you could have a big celebration and share some kai."

Reweti said it was called Subaru in Japan, although they could only see six stars, as opposed to the seven in New Zealand.

"In England, it's called the winter solstice and takes place around December 21; we just have the reverse of it down under."

The museum had been inviting school groups to learn about Puanga, Reweti said, teaching students about its history and how important it was to people before the advent of technology.

"I explain to the kids that there weren't any supermarkets back in the old days, so you couldn't just go and buy food.

"Nothing would come from the garden, and you couldn't go into the bush because the birds were breeding.

"There was almost a rahui [prohibition] on getting a kai, so if you didn't have anything stored up, you might have starved.

"It really was a matter of life and death, and luckily kids these days don't have to deal with that so much."

Lisa Reweti and Ken the Kiwi are teaching kids about Matariki and Puanga. Photo / Mike Tweed

Reweti said she was teaching children about Matariki and Puanga until the start of the school holidays, and museum kaiwhakaako Āwhina Twomey would host a lecture at the Davis Theatre on Wednesday, June 24, for adults to attend.

"Awhina teaches at a high level in te reo and works with primary, secondary and university students," Reweti said.

"Māori believe that Tāwhirimātea (god of wind) was devastated when his parents were separated, and he was so angry that he gouged his eyes from his face, crushed them, and threw them into the chest of his father Ranginui (sky father), thus creating the Matariki stars.

"Depending on the age of the kids, they'll either get the eye gouging story, or if they're really little they'll get Ken the Kiwi to help explain things."

Twomey will speak at the Davis Lecture Theatre on Wednesday, June 24, from 5.15pm-6.30pm. Supper is provided on arrival, and koha is appreciated.

For further information on the children's programmes, go to www.wrm.org.nz/