Calling a name this year? MereNotes on Matariki mourning.
Hune/June 6, 2025
Maramataka/MÄori lunar calendar phase: Ariroa - you canāt avoid work that needs doing.
sourced from Maramataka MÄori page - every region varies.
Phrase of the wiki: Kua whetūrangihia koe/You have become a star
sourced from Matariki - Star of the Year.
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Kia ora e te whÄnau,
Nau mai, hoki mai ki Te Arawhata, the newsletter helping us all to keep up with, connect withāand just ruddy enjoyāte ao MÄori ia wiki, ia wiki.
This week weāve got a fresh run of MÄori news, events, and recommendations including a handy DIY Matariki ceremony plan.
Weāve ALSO got a brand new discount on beautiful earrings and enamel pins for Te WhÄnau o Te Arawhata members. (Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up so far!)
Weāve ALSO ALSO got a ākÅreroā session on exactly what happens to our mate/loved ones who have passed during Matariki.
It felt good writing this one so I hope you enjoy reading it.
TALK OF THE TÄONE
šļø to keep you in the know
One of our FAV MÄori artists, Geneva AM, just released a brand new single and weāre playing it on repeat all day, starting fromā¦. now.
Our new Whakaata MÄori obsession = Nomad.
The Regulatory Standards Bill continues to be the opposite of a big hit on many MÄori social pages.
Best reo MÄori podcast just got announced at the NZ Radio & Podcast Awards and we picked itā¦
Mana WÄhine are in the The Waitangi Tribunal House.
āThose iwi are rich as, what do they even do with all their pÅ«tea/money?ā Te Aniwa Hurihanganui has the answers. In detail.
KETE FILLER RECOMMENDATIONS
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Check out the earrings and the enamel pins
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Matariki Karakia & Ceremony Guide
Two Matariki ago I read quietly from this guide as my partner opened a hot thermos for ngÄ atua on a beach up north. Itās your ticket to a simple, safe, meaningful DIY celebration.
Free to print I Te reo MÄori & te reo PÄkehÄ
Matariki presentation by Dr. Rangi Matamua
Teamāespecially NgÄti Nerdsāif you want to understand more about Matariki than your average HÅne, there aināt nothing stopping you. Itās all right here and so, so mind-blowing.
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āMatarikiā, feature film
I worked at the film commission when this was released way back before Matariki was ācool againā. Loved it then, and I know Iāll love it more now. Maybe you too?
92mins I $7 I Mostly te reo PÄkehÄ
KÅRERO
š£ļø cultural journey yarns to keep us (mostly) on track
What exactly happens at Matariki to our mate/loved ones who have passed?
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.
Iām using the MÄori word āmateā to describe them in this kÅrero team so donāt mistake it for the English kupu, āmateā, though unfortunately for myself and Iām sure many of us, this year they do happen to be one and the same. Yep, Iām not shying away from sadness today fam.
PÅhutukawa 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 alsoābefore 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, Iāve oh so nerdily recorded some notes from the pukapuka/book, āMatariki - The Star of the Yearā by Prof. Rangi Matamua to make it crystal clear for you here:
ā
MereNotes from āMatariki - The Star of the Yearā by Dr. Rangi Matamua on exactly happens to our mate/people who have passed on during Matariki:
Itās 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 āTe Waka o Rangiā.
You can see Te Waka o Rangi as a constellation in the sky that stretches from Matariki, across to Tautoru (Orionās Belt)ish. The place where the spirits sit on the canoe is called Te Hao o Rua (Orionās 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. Itās a sad time of farewells.
In Pipiri (Juneish), the waka reappears on the eastern skyline with Matariki. Itās still carrying our mate from the year before, but after their trip through rarohenga/the underworld theyāre now prepared for their final haerenga/journey; helmsman, Taramainuku, now casts them to the heavens to become whetÅ«/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.
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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 Iām 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 andāif youāre ready and it suits your beliefsākarangatia/call to them this Matariki.
However, I know that some of you wonāt 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 didnāt 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 didnāt feel tika/right, that wasnāt 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.
Phew, that one took it out of me. In a good way. Thanks for reading e hoa mÄ. Even more thanks if youāre supporting us as a member of Te WhÄnau o Te Arawhata (and reaping them rewards!).
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