Latest news with #Puanga
NZ Herald
22-06-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Matariki: Puanga rises over Ruapehu to herald Māori new year
The brightest star in the central North Island's pre-dawn sky led out this year's Matariki observance day, marking the beginning of the Māori new year. The theme for the national celebration was Matariki mā Puanga, highlighting the star Puanga, or Rigel. The star's appearance was observed and celebrated early on
Scoop
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
‘Our Sacred State Of Reset': Puanga Ushers In Māori New Year
One of the brightest stars in the central North Island's pre-dawn sky led out this year's Matariki observance day, marking the beginning of the Māori new year. The theme for the national celebration was Matariki mā Puanga, highlighting the star Puanga, or Rigel. Puanga was honoured early on Friday morning from the tiny pā of Tirorangi in Karioi, southeast of Ohakune. A ceremony hosted at the foot of Ruapehu maunga by Ngāti Rangi was attended by around 500 people, including the Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuīni Nga wai hono i te po and Ministers Paul Goldsmith and Tama Potaka. The rising of Puanga and the Matariki constellation (Pleiades) are part of an environmental calendar system and usher in the new year for many iwi. Puanga expert and Ngāti Rangi leader Che Wilson led the Hautapu ceremony. He said for tribes of the west, including Taranaki, Rangitīkei and Whanganui, Puanga gave a better read for the seasons ahead than Matariki and provided crucial weather insights in late autumn and early winter. 'So far it's looking positive,' Wilson said. The annual Matariki public holiday was legislated in 2022 and has since been celebrated nationally with a Hautapu ceremony honouring ancient tikanga (customs). The ceremony at Tirorangi pā was the first national Hautapu broadcast from a marae. The government's Chief Advisor Mātauranga Matariki, Professor Rangi Mātāmua, said Matariki mā Puanga was chosen as this year's theme to acknowledge regional and tribal variations in observing the Māori new year. 'The whole notion of Matariki mā Puanga is unity through diversity. Diversity is a strength,' Mātāmua said. 'We shouldn't look at the things that make us special and unique as things that should be polarised, because when they become polarised people become marginalised. 'For Māori, we've never ever looked at other's unique elements and seen them as an affront to the way we practice. It's the many flavours and many colours and many ideas that make us who we are as a nation.' Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith said it was wonderful to have 'our own New Zealand indigenous New Year celebration'. 'It's cold – very cold – but it's a special time. It's about the drawing of people together, taking stock of where we are right now and thinking about what we're going to do next year. "This is the fourth national Matariki broadcast but the first time it has been hosted by a marae, and the first year Puanga is the star of national celebrations." Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said the ceremony honoured the deceased and acknowledged the past, present and future. 'They are themes we can all embrace, and the Māori new year gives us time to pause and reflect on what's going right, what's going wrong and how we can re-set ourselves for the coming months.' Iwi member Tāwhiao McMaster saw Hautapu as 'our sacred state of re-set.' 'Last year we were quite clear on sending our burdens away so we could come back into this space of doing our work. 'This year, we need to be more aware of how we as a people in te Ao Māori can come together for our collective growth. This year, it's not just about kotahitanga, it's about whakapiki te ora – uplifting our lives.' Tracey-Lee Repia said observing Puanga was part of the push to revitalise cultural identity. 'What's beautiful is that we're able to reclaim our own stories and narratives pertaining to being Māori. 'It's really exciting because we're learning the things that our tūpuna knew and were just common knowledge.' Ngāputiputi Akapita attended the ceremony with her daughter, Te Whetu Matarangi Makea. 'Ahakoa ko te tau hou mō tatou te iwi Māori, he wā anō kia hono anō tātou te tāngata, ngā whānau, kia wānanga kia kōrero hei whakanui i tō tātou tuakiritanga,' Akapita said. [Although it is a new year for us Māori people, it is also a time for us to reconnect as individuals, families, to discuss and celebrate our identity.] Her one wish for the new year was 'for my family to be healthy'. Akapita's daughter said the morning had been special. 'To present our marae in this way, to host everyone, and for everyone to come together, the whakawhanaungatanga is actually really beautiful.' Kemp Dryden said the Hautapu was 'very grounding'. 'I felt the wairua this morning. I felt our old people here with us as the various rituals and incantations were done. I thought of my grandparents, other kaumātua who are no longer here. It was just special.'
RNZ News
21-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Rēkohu celebrates Matariki and the arrival of Puanga
On Rēkohu, the largest island in the Chatham Islands, Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga will mark the new year celebrations together. Photo: Black Iris Productions On Rēkohu, in the Chatham Islands, traditional practices around Puanga are just one of the traditions being rediscovered. Moriori historically celebrated the star Puanga or Rigel to mark the new year. Hokotehi Moriori Trust chairman Hayden Preece said they are going through a mass rediscovery of their culture and traditions. "There is very little information about our traditions to be honest, one thing that we have found is that people would gather at the rising of Pūanga and they would point a stick with a kopi berry seed tied to the end and they would chant speeches of worship asking for fruitfulness of the kopi tree." The kopi tree - or karaka - was extremely important to Moriori, it was one of the only sources of carbohydrate in their diet so it was a integral to their survival, he said. "Part of the exciting rediscovery is we get to also add to these things. It's in line with most of our Polynesian cultures... to have that connection to the stars and to agriculture." Preece said Moriori operated on a 31 day lunar calendar and had names for every single one of those days, currently they have rediscovered 26. "So we know the first day Whiro is unlucky, avoid planting, fishing, travel, things like that." Next Wednesday students from Te One School on Rēkohu will hold their own hautapu ceremony, which Preece said will create some awareness for the children. Being able to convey that knowledge to the next generation is really important, he said. 95 percent of the population of Moriori have left the island, with only about 80 registered members on the island, he said. "Here on island with our limited population we tend to support and work together with our Ngāti Mutunga counterparts, not much point in trying to duplicate two different ceremonies, so we do a dual ceremony this year. We will look to expand and do our own one possibly next year and moving in to the future, but this year we are just going to support." Preece said he absolutely supports the idea of a national holiday. "It's awesome to see our culture being recognised across the board, our wider Polynesian culture too, it's important to so many people." Preece said he would love to see the national hautapu ceremony on the Chatham Islands one day. "We would welcome that opportunity. We might be a little bit stretched with our logistics and our ability to cater but we are a pretty resilient and resourceful people, we could make it happen. "Me rongo. And have a safe and happy Moriori new year." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- 1News
Matariki celebrated across NZ with ceremony and reflection
New Zealanders right around the country have been celebrating Matariki, with many of them up well before dawn to watch the rising of the star cluster which heralds the start of the Māori New Year. It became an official public holiday only in 2022, but it's already become one of our most meaningful days and the first holiday to recognise Te Ao Māori. It was the first new public holiday since Waitangi Day became a public holiday in 1974. The date of Matariki changes from year to year, but it will always fall in June or July. A public holiday is held for Matariki on June 20, 2025. (Source: Ngāti Rangi hosted this year's national Matariki ceremony at Tirorangi Marae at the base of Mount Ruapehu. ADVERTISEMENT Iwi spokesperson Che Wilson told 1News it was a "huge honour" to be the first marae to host the national holiday ceremony. "It's truly a privilege to welcome everyone here," he said. "It means a great deal to us." Wilson explained that the Matariki celebrations would include offering karakia to specific stars in alignment with their Puanga traditions. "In our Puanga narrative, we'll offer them to four atua – Tāne, Rongo, Tangaroa, and Maru [the gods of forest, cultivated food, the sea, and war]." The Māori Queen, politicians, and dignitaries attended the national ceremony. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said having events across the country was a "real kotahitanga moment". "To bring it to national presence and international presence is something that connects us to the universe, and that's really important for us, that we see our tikanga as a way of life, as a daily platform for kotahitanga. And for me, it also connects to many, many other people from throughout the world." ADVERTISEMENT It was also a poignant moment for European Union ambassador to New Zealand Lawrence Meredith, who lost his father when he was young. "This whole transition for the ancestors is a really powerful message, the idea that ancestors become stars," he said. Hautapu ceremony at Auckland's Bastion Point this morning. (Source: 1News) Hundreds gathered at Auckland's Bastion Point to ring in the Māori New Year this morning with a hautapu ceremony. Food and steam were offered to the stars of Matariki as an offering of thanks from the umu or hāngī. The kai that is prepared for the hautapu connects to four different whetū (stars) in the Matariki cluster: Seafood with the star Waitā; freshwater kai with the star Waitī; kai from above the ground with the star Tupuārangi; and kai from the earth with the star Tupuānuku. Many were up well before dawn to watch the rising of the star cluster. (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT Kingi Makoare (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) said it was awesome to see the eagerness from people to learn about Māori culture. "It's heartwarming to see people really interested in us." Fiona Smith (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) added that it was a "great reflection of what New Zealand really should be". "Together, collaborative right from the beginning, standing shoulder to shoulder, doing things together, holding hands together." A maumaharatanga ceremony on Mauao/Mount Maunganui. (Source: 1News) In Tauranga, people of all ages summitted Mauao / Mount Maunganui before dawn for a remembrance of loved ones who had died in the past year. Te Puna I Rangiriri trust chairman Jack Thatcher led the maumaharatanga ceremony and said it was a "very emotional" morning. ADVERTISEMENT Maumaharatanga translates to memorial, memory or recollection. Grieving families and friends were invited to place their hands on the monument Te Tapuātea o Mauao and call out the names of their loved ones. "We have people bringing a lot of hurt. To call out the names of the loved ones that they're missing gives them a chance to heal and carry on," Thatcher said.
1News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- 1News
King Charles' Matariki message to New Zealand
King Charles has addressed a Matariki message to New Zealand ahead of the public holiday. "E mihi ana ki a Matariki mā Puanga," the King said. "My wife and I send our warmest greetings to all those in Aotearoa New Zealand celebrating Matariki, the Māori New Year. "This year, I particularly acknowledge those iwi and regions that look to the star Puanga, or Rigel, to signal the New Year." King Charles said the rising of Matariki and Puanga on the Eastern horizon heralded a time to reflect on the past, to remember absent loved ones and to prepare for a prosperous future. ADVERTISEMENT "It also marks a time where many different peoples and communities come together in celebration, united under the same night sky," he said. "Regardless of how, or whether, one marks the lunar calendar, this moment offers an opportunity to learn and share knowledge, and to embrace the diverse traditions that shape Aotearoa New Zealand's unique identity. "I wish you all a bright year ahead. Mānawatia a Matariki."
