What moments shaped you in 2025?
Tūmanako | Kaikohe
As the rest of the world celebrates New Years in January, Māori have a mid-winter celebration when Matariki rises in Aotearoa. Tūmanako reflects on Matariki 2025, and how this star cluster brings whānau together and prepares them for new pathways ahead.
“Ki te whakaaro au e pā ana ki ngā mea harihari i roto i tōku ao, ka hoki ōku mahara ki te tau hou Māori, tēnā ko Matariki.
I noho mātou ko tōku whānau ki Kaitāia mō tētahi wiki/wīkene pea, āe, hei tuku i ngā hara o roto i te kaupapa o te hautapu. Ko te hautapu, he whakawātea i ngā hara o te tau nei. Ko te hautapu, he tuku i ō wawata, i ō moemoeā ki a Hiwa-i-te-rangi kia wātea ai te ara māu mō te tau kei te heke mai.
He mea nui a Matariki ki a mātou katoa ko te whānau Mānihera, tā te mea rā te tohu o Matariki ka tohu mai he ao hou, he ao anō, he ara anō mā tātou ki te takahi, ki te hīkoi kia whai ai i ngā hua hou, ngā kura huna hou e pā ana ki a mātou, e pā ana ki te ao, e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa pea, e pā ana ki a Aotearoa whānui anō hoki.
Ko te whakakotahitanga o te whānau, he whānau te kapa Matariki, he poupou kei roto i tōku āhuru mōwai, he poupou kia raranga i ngā tira, i ngā whānau, ngā whanaunga, ngā hoa, aha atu, aha atu, kia rite ai mō ngā āhuatanga o te tau hou. Āe, ki a au nei koirā te hononga kei waenganui i aua kaupapa, ko te whakakotahitanga.
Ko te hautapu, he ara tini rau ngā ara kia whakamahu i a koe anō, erangi, ko te hautapu, he here i ngā turi o tō whānau ki a koe anō, kia mahana te manawa, kia tau te hinengaro, kia rite ai koe anō mō tō ara.” (See comment section for English translation)
English translation:
“When I think about the things that bring me joy in my world, my memories return to the Māori New Year, which is Matariki.
My whānau and I stayed in Kaitāia for perhaps a week/weekend, yes, to release the transgressions through the hautapu ceremony. The hautapu is the releasing of wrongdoings of this year. The hautapu is about releasing your wishes, your dreams to Hiwa-i-te-rangi so that the path is clear for you in the year to come.
Matariki is important to all of us, the Mānihera whānau, because Matariki signals a new world, another world, another path for us to tread, to walk, to seek the new fruits, the wisdom that lies hidden relating to us, that relates to the world, that relates to this kaupapa perhaps, and relating to Aotearoa more widely.
It is the unification of family. The Matariki cluster is a family, they are pillars within my safe haven, they are pillars to weave together groups, families, relatives, friends, and so forth, to prepare for what the new year brings. Yes, to me, that is the connection between these kaupapa, it is the unification.
The hautapu has hundreds of paths to heal yourself, but hautapu is the binding of the whānau to themselves, to warm the heart, to calm the mind, so that you yourself are ready for your path.”
