What exactly happens at Matariki to our mate/loved ones who have passed?
KĆRERO
đŁïž an excerpt from our weekly newsletter 6 June, 2025
Many of us will understand a big part of Matariki is remembering those who have passed on, especially those who have passed on in the last MÄori year.
Iâm using the MÄori word âmateâ to describe them in this kĆrero team so donât mistake it for the English kupu, âmateâ, though unfortunately for myself and Iâm sure many of us, this year they do happen to be one and the same. Yep, Iâm not shying away from sadness today fam.
PĆhutukawa is the star in the Matariki cluster associated with our mate and a major wahanga/part of many ceremonies is calling out the ingoa/names of your loved ones who have passed to her.
It sounds beautiful, romantic even, but alsoâbefore taking part in all that for the first time, I wanted to know exactly why the tradition exists and what it says would happen to my loved one when I took part. In fact, I felt a big responsibility too.
For anyone else who is feeling the same this year, Iâve oh so nerdily recorded some notes from the pukapuka/book, âMatariki - The Star of the Yearâ by Prof. Rangi Matamua to make it crystal clear for you here:
â
MereNotes from âMatariki - The Star of the Yearâ by Dr. Rangi Matamua on exactly happens to our mate/people who have passed on during Matariki:
Itâs a traditional MÄori belief that when someone dies their spirit is hauled up in a giant net by Taramainuku and suspended to the stern of his great canoe âTe Waka o Rangiâ.
You can see Te Waka o Rangi as a constellation in the sky that stretches from Matariki, across to Tautoru (Orionâs Belt)ish. The place where the spirits sit on the canoe is called Te Hao o Rua (Orionâs nebule) and they lie like kura, the decorative feathers that adorn waka.
image from Living by the Stars
As the year progresses Te Waka o Rangi moves east to west across the sky until the month of Haratua (Mayish) when it ends up vertical on the western horizon to set with the sun (and Matariki). At this point, MÄori believe the waka, with all spirits onboard, is being escorted by Matariki to the afterlife. Itâs a sad time of farewells.
In Pipiri (Juneish), the waka reappears on the eastern skyline with Matariki. Itâs still carrying our mate from the year before, but after their trip through rarohenga/the underworld theyâre now prepared for their final haerenga/journey; helmsman, Taramainuku, now casts them to the heavens to become whetĆ«/stars in the sky.
This is the reason MÄori call the names of our mate in Matariki ceremonies, to mourn and mihi to them as they become stars.
---
A little personal addition from me (Lizzie) :
Tuatahi, I want to mihi to everyone who has lost someone recently and not recently (likely everyone). Death sucks and Iâm so sorry.
This is the time to feel it fam. Remember them, mourn them, tangi/cry and hurt and sit in your love for them andâif youâre ready and it suits your beliefsâkarangatia/call to them this Matariki.
However, I know that some of you wonât feel ready for that.
A few Matariki back, at the top of Te Pane o Mataoho, I found myself frozen at this point of the ceremony. As people called names, the one I wanted to was stuck in my korokoro/throat. It just didnât feel right and I stayed quiet.
Later, panicked that I had done something terrible, I asked the leaders of the wÄnanga - Stacey and Scotty Morrison, how to correct my mistake. They reassured me that if it didnât feel tika/right, that wasnât the right time and, particularly if it was a recent death, sometimes our spirits get to stay on board for another round. So go with your gut e te whÄnau. All my aroha. MÄnawatia a Matariki.