WEBVTT - A celebrtion of unity: The importance of Matariki this year 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:05.280 Hilda. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.200 I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:17.079 daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Unity is 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.919 the theme for this year's Masoiki. Today is the fourth 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.639 year of the public holiday marking the Mali New Year. 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.320 It's the first holiday to recognize molding and the first 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:32.440 new public holiday introduced since Why Tungi Day became a 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:37.080 holiday in nineteen seventy four. Today on the front page, 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.120 Professor Rangi Matamua, the chief advisor for Maturiki, is with 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:49.080 us to take us through what the holiday means. 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.600 First off, Rangi, what is Matariki. 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:58.160 So Matariki is a cluster of stars, most commonly known 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:03.400 as play and so it's in the constellation of Taurus. 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.160 And it's actually there are a few hundred stars in 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.319 that cluster, but there's only a handful that are visible 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.800 to the naked eye. So Maturik is the Mali name 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:13.679 that's given to. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:15.000 That group of stars. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:19.560 And in terms of martaiqui, what's the law there if 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:20.360 people don't know? 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.600 So, stars rise four minutes earlier every day. So the 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.280 stars you see in the sky, say in the summertime 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:28.920 in the morning, are not the stars that you see 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.240 in the sky in the winter time, they change, they 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:33.960 change their positions throughout the year. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.560 And so what happens is Martariqui will. 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:41.040 Rise on the horizon in the eastern sky just before 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.600 the sun rises in the middle of winter. So when 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.000 it appears in that position in the middle of winter, 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.720 before the sun rises, you knew that you were around 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:50.800 the shortest day of the year. And so that was 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:54.640 a marker for when people begin their New Year celebration. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.600 And most cultures that have a New year, if that's 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.440 you know, for want of a better phrase, sell lebraided 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:02.760 it in the winter. You'll see that right across Europe. 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.280 You'll see that in many other cultures as well. They'll 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:07.480 wait till the middle of winter and then they knew 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:09.560 that the shortest day had ended and the you know, 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:11.800 somen was coming back and bringing back life and warmth 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:12.280 of the earth. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:13.760 Well, Mardi did exactly the same. 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.160 But the marker that we chose to understand and know 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.840 when we were in the correct phase of celebration was 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:21.760 the pre dawn rising of Matadiki. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.800 And I understand that there's a theme this year. What's that? 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.680 So the theme this year is matadi Ki mapuanga that 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:30.079 means mataiki and Puanger. 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.960 So you know, Mahdi, just like any other group of people. 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.400 We have our own you know, you can even though 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:42.480 you're one people, perhaps we have so much diversity within 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.160 our within our culture, and different regions have different approaches. 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.600 For the vast majority of Maldi, Matadiki is the symbol 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.440 that begins the new year, but for some tribes, the 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.560 star Puanger or Ridal is actually the star that marks 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:58.560 the beginning of the new year. It's a star that 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:02.520 rises near at the same time of the year, but 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:04.560 it was just a different start that was selected. 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:08.639 So what we're doing in this year is. 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.680 Celebrating mantari qui mar puna, which means celebrate together. 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:13.680 So we're saying to people, even though you. 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:16.960 Might have perhaps a little bit different approach, or there 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:22.440 are these wonderful nuanced eardiosyncrasies or different characteristics that different 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.720 regions have, we should celebrate those, but also come together 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:27.799 to celebrate the Mardi New Year. 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:34.880 Siniki is representative of the Marii new year, but also 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.320 something that was key as part of seasonal recognizing the 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:44.000 change in seasons, and also recognized in different regions of 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.000 it sometimes being at different times, but it is unique 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.200 to New Zealand. It is something that's unique about our 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:53.840 place in the world, and so it's a real chance 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.640 for us to not only mark that in our own calendar, 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:59.400 but to showcase that internationally as well. 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:06.000 How significant do you think that that theme of unity 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.160 is at a time when there's been a lot of 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:13.760 talk about culture wars and of course the Treaty Principal's Bill, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:18.080 It seems pretty timely to be thinking of togetherness. You know. 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.880 It's we're in a period where there's a lot of division, 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.000 and not just in the country but right across the world, 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.440 and it's often driven, i think, in many ways at 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:31.120 a political level. And so people become divided because of 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:36.120 their different, diverse practices, or different backgrounds or even different lifestyles, 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:41.760 and so people become isolated and marginalized, and words become weaponized, 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:45.240 and people become politicized and then even radicalized. 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:47.480 And so the division does that. 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.240 And what we're saying is it's okay to be different, 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.400 It's okay, but it's about coming together with our difference, 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:55.839 is to celebrate the things that make us the same. 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.839 There isn't a single person who lives in this country 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.120 who does not descend from a culture that used that 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:06.200 group of stars Matiqui or plad E's or the Seven 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:08.600 Sisters or the hen in checks, regardless of where you 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:10.320 are in the world, that did not look to those 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.599 stars to mark new year, or to mark planting, or 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.000 to mark harvest or many other things. 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.040 And so it's saying we're from all. 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.880 Of these different, diverse backgrounds, but we come together to 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.400 celebrate as one. I think it's such an important message 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:30.719 in the context of where we are in terms of 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.760 I guess the climate that is dividing many of us. 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:36.040 Why does the date change every year? 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.840 You do you know why Easter changes every year? 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:39.680 No? 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.840 Yeah, And you know most people don't know. The reason 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.880 Easter changes every year, and it's about a month's difference 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:53.479 is because the Easter celebration is built on a lunar 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.880 solar calendar. It's not part of the Gregorian calendar. It 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.840 existed well before the three hundred and sixty five and 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.920 called a day Gregorian calendar system that we follow today, 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.919 and it was based on a particular lunar period of 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.679 a particular lunar month, and that's why it shifts because 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.240 the lunar months and the solar months are not the 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.080 same thing. And that's exactly the reason why Mantadiki shifts, 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:19.080 because it's based on a traditional Mildi lunar calendar system 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:23.640 that re existed here before the arrival of the Gregorian calendar. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.880 So it shifts against the Gregorian calendar, but in terms 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:32.599 of the lunar calendar, it stays the same. Now, lunar 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.080 calendars they only have three hundred and fifty four days, 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:39.640 not three hundred and sixty five. So it just don't 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.080 want to bore people too much with the kinds of 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.599 it all, but fairly much. It means every three years 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.599 you need to add an additional lunar month into the 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:52.480 calendar system to make sure that your lunar cycle sinks 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.000 into your solar cycle. And so that's the reason why 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.480 Easter shifts and the same reason why Mantaiqi shifts. 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:03.520 So have you viewed the cluster yet? 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:03.960 No? 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:04.680 Do you know how to? 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:05.160 No? 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.920 Okay, wake up? Go outside. 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:09.039 There's a hard part. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.360 You're already away before sunrise. Once the sun's up foot 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.320 washes out the stars. You don't want to get up 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:16.560 to real leaf because you have to wait for the 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:20.320 cluster to actually rise over the horizon. So between five 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:21.760 thirty and six thirty is a good time of the 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:23.720 morning to see it. You're going to look to the southeast. 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:25.960 You're going to look for Oriyan's bout, which is also 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:27.120 known as the pot. 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:29.440 Ryan. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.800 It's also known as Totau, and then you're going to 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.360 look straight out from the pot and you'll see Puanga. Yeah, 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:38.120 and then you're going to look lift to the pot. 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:39.680 You're going to see big orange stand and you're going 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:41.840 to look a little for the lift, and then you're 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.760 going to see the Matsadiki cluster. So it's just a 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.400 cluster of stars and look a little bit hazy, and 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.920 between five thirty and six city is the best time 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:51.440 to see it. 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:55.000 Yeah, I saw. 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.120 In twenty twenty two, the Matadiki Advisory Committee set out 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.160 the Maturiki Public Holiday day. 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.640 For the next thirty years. How does that happen? 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:08.440 You can actually work out what years will have extra 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:12.600 months and when the particular and correct lunar phases will 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:16.360 be of the correct lunar months. So it's no different 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.920 as setting out moving forward Christmas for the next one 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.960 hundred years. See Christmas doesn't always fall on the same day. 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.280 It doesn't always fall on a Saturday or a Sunday 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.800 or a Friday or a Tuesday of changes, but it 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.400 will always be on the twenty fifth. That's exactly the 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.439 same as we've worked out. We understand that Marta Deque 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:39.439 won't changes against the Western calendar, but it always falls on. 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:43.680 The correct lunar period of time. So yeah, we just you. 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.160 Can project right out for thousands of years if you 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:49.400 really wanted to, what the correct lunar phases of the 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:50.520 correct lunar months will be. 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.280 This is the fourth year celebrating Matauriqua is a public holiday. 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:07.199 Do you think the understanding of Marsadiki has grown over 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:07.760 that time? 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.520 It clearly has, and I mean the Ministry for Culture 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.080 and Heritage have put out reports every year showing that 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.480 it's increased. It's gone from I think fifty one percent 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.120 of the entire population to celebrating it in its first year. 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:21.319 Last year, I think it was sixty two percent or 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:23.840 something like that. I want to be making up numbers. 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.320 Yeah, I think it was three quarters of Kiwis see 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.880 Masadiki as a chance to celebrate the culture, people and 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.400 stories of al Tierroa up from seventy percent in twenty 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.240 twenty three, So clearly, I mean that's going to be encouraging. 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.680 It is, it is, and I think it's like that 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:43.199 because there is no politics in Matauriki. There isn't There 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.360 is no right way or wrong way to celebrate it. 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.280 It can be as simple as just sitting down with 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.520 loved ones and having a meal, to going out and 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.679 watching a rugby match, to spending time going out to 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:57.080 walk the dogs. It's about people reconnecting to their loved 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:00.679 ones and reconnecting to the environment. There are tradition, Maldi 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.160 four more ceremonies that are taking place right across the 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.600 country at the moment. There are also people just in 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.280 their homes spending time with each other. But it's mostly 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.400 based on three principles. Number one, it's a period where 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.720 we reflect on our loved ones and we honor the 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.280 legacy that they've left us. The second thing we do 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.839 is we celebrate all of the wonderful things that make 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.400 us who we are, all of those wonderful things that 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.920 means to be a ki we And the last thing, 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.480 as we look to the future and look to a 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.560 prosperous here, but also to who we want to be 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:36.240 in the future, and so I think those really core, open, 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:40.240 wonderful values resonate with all people. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.880 So I'm really stoked that it's growing. I'm really really. 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.040 Happy that I get the feeling that people are starting 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.480 to embrace it. They're always going to be those groups 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.520 of people that will say it's just another day off 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:52.760 for me, or I don't want to celebrate that, and 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.120 that's cool, But hoping that as it starts to evolve 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.200 and people become more comfortable with it and realize that 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.760 there are no month police or no one's being judged, 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.000 or it's open to everyone, that will become part of 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:08.280 people's normal yearly cycle and part of our national identity. 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:14.120 This year, to celebrate Matadiki, we're having a lot of 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.720 friends over to our fuddy and we're going to put 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.440 down the hangy. I'm calling it Houerdiki. It's like friends 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:22.320 miss but for Martadiki. 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.440 For Martiniqui. This year, I'm going to make some cute 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:28.400 little short bread stars, which may not be successful, and 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.679 I'm having some of my best friends over so that 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.760 we can share some reflections and some of our goals 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:34.480 for the next year. 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.560 Are there any other significant dates or events in the 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.440 multi calendar that you would like to see more widely 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:44.600 celebrated as well. 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.640 Yeah, there are there are those seasonal celebrations and those 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.559 are mildly celebrated at the end of the harvest. So 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.760 that was in the autumn, celebrated in the spring, when 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:55.240 we planted, we celebrated in the middle of summer. And 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:59.120 these were like acknowledgments of the seasonal cycles. But the 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:03.360 big one, big one was Mataiki and that was big 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:07.280 community events and feesting and coming together. But all of them, 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:12.560 all of those Mali seasonal celebrations are deeply intertwined with 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:13.800 the environment. 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:15.240 So there you know. 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:19.520 The Maldi calendar system is an environmentally driven astronomical calendar 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:23.640 system and so it's people had such intimate connections and 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.160 a knowledge of the environment, and it was embedded into 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:29.520 everyday practice. And so I'd love to see more of 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.920 that happen and people connecting to our environment and where 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:33.920 we are in this part. 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:34.160 Of the world. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.440 Thanks for joining us today, You're welcome. 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.840 That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.679 can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.640 at enzadherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:54.360 produced by Ethan Sells and Richard Martin, who is also 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:55.640 our sound engineer. 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:57.640 I'm Chelsea Daniels. 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:01.400 Subscribe to the Front Page on radio or wherever you 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:05.200 get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:06.920 look behind the headlines.