A traditional Maori meeting house under a starlit sky. Photo: Matariki.co.nz
It is a great source of delight to me that we have things unique to us, which are exclusively our own – that is, things particular, or indigenous to New Zealand. I won’t attempt listing items although it would be fun to do so, but given my allotted 500 words for this opinion piece, I’d run myself short in focussing on tomorrow’s unique national celebration. Our very own Matariki.
A Maori elder shares the stories of Matariki. Photo: Matariki.co.nz
Murray Smith
This year I hope to see again those sparkling jewels in the sky that appear in the Southern Hemisphere around June (mid winter). Up until the first half of July, for Māori, this season traditionally announces the new year on their lunar calendar. It is a time to celebrate the earth – show respect for the land and the crops it produces. The brighter the stars, the more productive a harvest could be expected.
On June 24, 2022 we had our nation’s inaugural commemoration to mark the appearance of the Matariki cluster of stars sometimes known as the ‘Seven Sisters’, or perhaps more widely known as the Pleiades. I remember standing outside on that eve of our new national Matariki holiday, well before dawn, at the beach on the east coast of Coromandel. The skies were clear… a beautiful ‘inky’ dark blue colour.
Matariki. Photo: Matariki.co.nz
I had been told there are hundreds of stars in the Matariki cluster, but only six or seven are visible without a telescope. Staring up into the vast grandeur of space without the luxury of a telescope, I scanned the heavens in the area I was informed to search in and as my eyes adjusted, felt confident that against the vast backdrop of myriads of other stars, some particularly ‘sparkly’ ones were introducing themselves as members of the Matariki whānau. The lasting impression was the feeling of how small we are, by contrast with the universe’s immensity… yet paradoxically, the nearness of the Creator who designed its order, and sustains the patterns which the stars display. Such consistency afforded our forebears reliable navigation across oceans. How did such order come about and what maintains it?
It’s explained by Bible passages written thousands of years ago. Here’s a few…“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” (Psalm 8)
Matariki. Photo: Matariki.co.nz
“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world.” (Psalm 19)
In the Book of Job (the Bible’s oldest book, 3500BC), God is rightfully credited as the One who “set the stars in place, the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and the stars in the southern sky…” There’s nothing random or arbitrary about the countless stars in their constellations – their very creation and ordered precision demands a Creator. Disavowing that, is like claiming an explosion of ink in a print shop, produced the Oxford Dictionary.
God directs the stars in their courses…as He reaches out to us this Matariki.
Matariki. Original image: Messier 45 Open cluster by Filip Lolić / CC 3.0. This image has been edited (rotated, cropped and stars tagged) by Parliamentary Library, part of the Parliamentary Service.
