Ka puta a Matariki... feasting and planning at the new year

Snow falls softly and covers the view from my study window

Ka puta a Matariki, ka rere a Whanui; ko te tohu o te tau.

Matariki reappears, Whanui starts its flight; this is the sign of the season.

It has been snowing in my garden all morning and it is still snowing as I write. Every hour I take another photograph of the garden from my study window to update how snow-clad it is becoming. It seems like we are at the winter solstice already, but it is still nearly two weeks away. 

 

We are, however, in the season of Matariki, the Māori New Year. The star cluster Matariki – also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters – disappears from the night sky while Whanui – or Vega – the harvest star is presiding over the kumara harvest, from February until May. Matariki leaves during the first waning moon of May, and returns with the next waning moon. The reappearance of Matariki is a signal that the new year is almost here. It begins on the new moon after the re-appearance of Mataraki. This is usually close to the winter solstice – this year it is June 21, right on the solstice.

How will Matariki look when they return this year? The tradition goes that if the stars are clear and bright, it bodes well for a warm and productive year ahead, but if they seem hazy and shimmering, a cold winter is in store.

Another seasonal star to look out for, which is more important than the Matariki stars to some iwi, is Puanga kai rau - Puanga of abundant food. Also known as Rigel, this is the bright star at the tip of the constellation Orion.

Matariki is a time of securing and preserving the autumn harvest of crops, fish and birds, and feasting on the surplus. It is also a time to plant – especially native trees that will provide food for birds and insects in years to come. In the vege garden it's time to plant garlic, broad beans and other crops that like a winter chill, and hardy greens of all kinds. In the kitchen it's time to make a colourful salad of taewa (Maori potatoes) in purple, red and yellow. Also kumera soup and pumpkin pie. Or maybe star-shaped Matariki biscuits. 

 

A three day festival of singing and dancing is another Matariki tradition, with songs to greet the first rising of Matariki. Greeting Matariki means getting up before dawn, and looking East to where the sun will rise. This is where the stars will appear when they rise before the sun.

There are many food-related proverbs associated with Matariki. They include:

Nga kai a Matariki nana i ao ake ki runga
(The foods of Matariki, by him/her brought forth)

Matariki atua ka eke mai i te rangi a roa, e
Whanganga iho ki te mata o te tau e roa, e.
(Divine Matariki, come hither from the distant heavens, Bestow the first fruits of the year upon us.) 
Ka kitea a Matariki, na kua maoka te hinu
(When the Pleiades are seen, the preserved flesh is cooked)

This year I am celebrating Matariki by giving a talk on Friday June 8, 7:30 p.m., at the City South Library in Colombo St, Christchurch. I'll share some traditional gardening lore, some warty pumpkin seeds, and some home-baked Matariki biscuits, and I'll talk about some of the things you'll find in my book Food@Home that are very relevant to the season – such as the harvest storage and garden planning guides. There'll be lots of time for questions too. I'd love to see local readers there if you can make it.

If you'd like to learn even more about Matariki and how to celebrate it, look for the book Celebrating the Southern Seasons by Juliet Batten, and/or read her Matariki posts on her blog Seasonal Inspiration