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There is not a single day that marks Matariki, so when could a holiday that celebrates the Maori New Year fall? Brittney Deguara speaks with experts, advocates, and iwi to hear their thoughts.
Trying to find a single date to celebrate a Matariki holiday would be like trying to drive a square peg into a round hole.
On Monday, the Labor Party announced plans to create a public holiday in Matariki in 2022 if he is re-elected. Stuff launched a campaign for the holidays in July, arguing that we were behind in creating a unifying party that honors Aotearoa’s past and celebrates New Zealand’s future.
STUFF
Matariki has become a widely accepted festival across the country. Stuff says it is time for Matariki’s legal vacation to mark the occasion.
But unlike the December / January New Year, there is not a single day that marks the Maori New Year period.
Forcing a specific annual date could defeat the purpose of the season, according to Dr. Dan Hikuroa, Senior Lecturer at Te Wānanga or Waipapa at the University of Auckland.
“[That] I wouldn’t agree with the way Matariki is. “
Happy New Year (flexible)
So why not make it mobile? It’s an idea that’s supported by various experts, advocates, and iwi, including Hikuroa.
We already do it for Easter, said the president of the board of Te taiwhenau or heretanga, Mike Paku.
“New Zealanders are very used to Easter moving around every year. The fact that [could] be a touching date [would] it won’t be a big problem, ”said Action Station Director Laura O’Connell Rapira.
According to the lunar calendar cycle, the holiday could move in a rotation of three years.
Dr. Rangi Mātāmua, professor of Maori astronomy at the University of Waikato, highlighted mid-June, late June, and mid-July as an ideal cycle.
“[It could] change up and down in the calendar system generally over a three-year period. “
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Dr. Rangi Matamua, is a Maori astronomy expert who has worked hard to help Aotearoa develop an understanding of Matariki.
There is no annual date range for Matariki, but the celebration period generally spans seven or eight days in winter, depending on the lunar cycle, Mātāmua explained.
Hikuroa, who is also the culture commissioner for the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, has previously spoken with Stuff on the difficulty of choosing just one day.
However, Hikuroa was sure it made sense to “Monday” the holiday, as it did to Waitangi Day and Anzac Day through a 2003 Holiday Law amendment.
This is what Labor plans to do. Kelvin Davis, the party’s co-leader, said Monday that he hopes it will always be at the beginning or end of a weekend.
Friday has been the day chosen for Ngāti Kahungunu’s Matariki celebrations in the Hawke’s Bay region for the past two decades.
Te Rangi Huata, Ngāti Kahungunu’s Event Manager, has been one of the driving forces behind these events and has helped iwi in Dunedin and Auckland expand their Matariki offerings over the years. I didn’t see the date having a big impact on the celebrations.
“The holiday is the exclamation point of the celebration, but [it] It does not mean that the celebration is for that day, the celebration can last several weeks ”.
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Dr. Dan Hikuroa believes that the proposed holiday in Matariki should be “Monday”.
Time to talk
Markers for Matariki and Puanga, another star that marks the Maori New Year marker, vary across the country. To accommodate tribal variations, a broader and more inclusive discussion is needed.
Labor plans to work with Matariki experts to determine the appropriate dates for the holidays, but more voices may be needed.
“[Discussion] needs to be in the community [level], ”Hikuroa said.
While there may be some strong voices on the issue, both for and against, it will be critical to ensure that everyone is heard. This can be done through public forums, community meetings, and online presentations.
“Ultimately, it will be a decision for the government to make, but in an ideal democracy it will be a decision for New Zealanders,” Hikuroa said.
He suggested that the Maori groups start the conversation and set an appropriate time frame, or at least be given the opportunity to do so, before a larger group helps choose the specific date.
Mātāmua raised the idea of a committee made up of Maori astronomers and experts in the field to lead this discussion.
“That is not a call any individual can make … it will have to be [in] consult, ”he said.
Ngāti Kahungunu’s Huata thought it would be great if his iwi were involved in the process as they have been celebrating the season for 21 years. However, they will not “spit on the doll,” he laughed.
“If the dates go well, great. If not, it will be great for the whole country to join.
“We support whether we are involved or not.
In terms of the calendar, Labor is targeting 2022 to mark the first Matariki holiday. This gives companies time to recover financially from the effects of Covid-19.
Mātāmua would like the conversations to begin now about what he described as a wonderful, fantastic and challenging task.
“[There] A certain amount of groundwork needs to be set in place for this to be accepted as widely as possible and implemented in the right way.
“You are really asking that 5 million people be informed because it will affect 5 million people, so that information will have to come out as soon as possible.
