Heritage et AL

Many of us will be star-gazing this month as we celebrate the rising of the constellation Matariki (also known as Pleiades) which signifies New Year in the Māori calendar. Looking up at the sky from the southern Hemisphere vantage point, many of us may know a few major constellations like Matariki, the Southern Cross and Orion (down under, this is known more often as the Pot or the Saucepan). A trip to an observatory or some Googling might help us identify a few more, or we may even find a book at our local library such as one of these:            The practical skywatcher's handbook / Robert Burnham ... [et al.] ; consultant editor, John O'Byrne       A walk through the southern sky : a guide to stars and constellations and their legends / Milton Heifetz, Wil Tirion. New Zealand's night sky : prominent stars and constellations

Matariki  is a very important time of the year, which is celebrated throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand. The heliacal rising of the Pleiades or the Matariki star cluster on the eastern horizon at dawn marks the start of the Māori New Year. This occurs during the colder months of the year, usually around May or June and soon after the shortest day. Ref: Frederick George Radcliffe, Thule by moonlight, Stewart Island, Tourist Series 1181, no date, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 36-R1402 Only 7 of the 500 stars are visible in Aotearoa and remain in the sky until March, when they 'disappear' for two months, before rising again a few months later. The stars are seen at different times around the world and many other cultures attach their own significance and meaning to this most beautiful cluster of stars. For example, in Samoa, Matariki is known as Matali‘i and becomes visible in October each year.

In ancient Māori traditions, kite flying could symbolize the connections between earth and the heavens; kites were flown to celebrate the rising of Matariki and the beginning of the Māori New Year. Because of my interest in building a kite from traditional materials to fly this Matariki, I have been researching Māori kites and kite-making. Several designs of kites are described in the literature. For example, the ethnographer Eldson Best in his Games and Pastimes of the Māori (1925) describes six kites, their design and usage.  Titiri, a Bay of Islands chief who travelled to England, in 1818 drew several pictures of kites. Ref: 7-A3168, 1818, Sir George Grey Special Collections In this drawing, the bird-shaped kite is probably a sacred manu aute, with aute bark covering the frame.The diamond-shaped kite is a manu pātiki, built to represent a flounder. The top and bottom kites in this picture are probably ūpoku tangata, children’s kites, made from ūpoku tangata...