Celebrating Puanga: How different iwi mark the Māori new year

“Focus on intention”: that’s the advice from Coromandel kura kaupapa Māori principal Parekaia Tapiata for whānau wanting to mark the Māori new year.

Born and raised in a small Māori community in Papaioea (Palmerston North), Tapiata focuses on educating everyday New Zealanders about a star many people might not have heard before: Puanga.

Instead of looking for the rising of the Matariki star cluster to mark the start of the new year, some iwi look to Puanga as a prominent celestial marker.

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“A lot of tribes, mainly western tribes, will have Puanga as a marker for the new year,” he says.

Known in Western astronomy as Rigel, Puanga is the brightest star in the Orion constellation. It’s also the official theme of this year’s national Matariki celebrations.

Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and kōrero tuku iho (history, oral tradition) about Puanga are shared across many iwi across Aotearoa but are prominent on the western side of Te Ika a Maui, including among the iwi of Taranaki, Whanganui, and Rangitīkei.

“It's a key star for tribes on the West Coast, because it's a weather star, and it gives us a read of the type of westerly winds that we're going to get in the west coast for the new year,” Tapiata says.

As part of Matariki celebrations this year, The TAHI podcast’s Janay Harding spoke with Parekaia Tapiata (Uri nō Te Tai Hauāuru Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa) about the differences between Puanga and Matariki, and the importance of intention.

Traditional knowledge around Matariki and the Māori New Year has been revived over recent years, with people from across the motu engaging in various celebrations.

Traditionally, Māori welcomed te mātahi o te tau, the new year, with a traditional ceremony; "whāngai i te hautapu," which means to "feed the stars with a sacred offering".

This ceremony, one of several important ones that occurred at the first sighting of Matariki, involves cooking kai and sending the steam from it up to the sky as an offering and expression of gratitude for the year before. For Matariki, this happens in the early hours of the morning, before the sun rises.

Tapiata says one of the key differences between celebrating Matariki as opposed to Puanga is that there are usually two different ‘ceremonies’ that take place during the winter.

The first, Te Maru o te Tau, is a ‘hautuku’ ceremony, held at sunset to farewell passed loved ones.

“That’s done at the end of the year, so that we can allow ourselves a bit of time to do what we would call a spring clean to help prepare ourselves physically and mentally for the new year, so that we’ve released any of that taumahatanga, that heaviness that we all know that comes with the passing of a loved one”

And then Te Tahi o Te Tau, a hautapu ceremony which takes place before dawn to welcome the new year, Tapiata explains.

“We then look to Puanga in the early mornings of the new month. When we see Puanga rising in the morning, it indicates the time for the new year and to have all of our new year celebrations.”

A large component of traditional ceremonies marking the start of the Māori New Year is karakia, typically recited by tohunga.

But Tapiata assures people feeling a bit whakamā to focus on intention.

“If you don't have 10 karakia, or karakia that you think are specific to Matariki, that's fine. Use the karakia that you know focus on what the purpose of that karakia may be.”

Even the commonly used karakia for kai, which starts ‘Nau mai e ngā hua’, can be used for Matariki or Puanga celebrations, he says.

“Our kids, our parents, a whole generation of Māori have grown up knowing that to be a karakia for kai, and yes, it is a karakia for kai, but not just at the dinner table.”

Too often whānau get caught up in trying to be perfect, Tapiata says.

“We're not willing to make the mistakes so that we learn.”

“I think that's probably the important thing for whānau, who may be struggling to find their place within this Puanga Matariki celebration, is focus on intention. Focus on what you do have rather than what you don't.”

Matariki hautapu ceremonies also involve gathering kai or food, for each of the four Matariki stars connected to food.

Traditionally, Māori would go into the taiao (environment) to source the kai, but in the modern world, Tapiata says there are other options available.

“If you're not a diver, you're not a hunter, you're not a gardener, kei te pai, go diving in Pak'nSave seafood aisle. Go harvest your kūmara in the vegetable aisle. It's fine because we're focusing in on what we can do rather than what we can't.”

Recently, Tapiata has been involved in making a series of social media videos aiming to inform New Zealanders about Puanga.

Alongside Te Aorere Pewhairangi, a Māori content creator, and Dr Rangi Mātāmua, a leading authority on Māori astronomy and Chairperson of the Matariki Advisory Board, the group has been speaking to authority figures about Puanga, and the various mātauranga and kōrero surrounding it.

“It’s just about really showcasing what Puanga is, who Puanga is.”

Tapiata said that while different iwi have different views, all are recognised.

He references a whakataukī, “ko tōu piki amokura nōu, ko tōku piki amokura nōku” (My adornment belongs to me, and your adornment belongs to you), which conveys mutual respect for different teachings or schools of thought.

“Each iwi have their own kōrero, and we don’t dispute their kōrero.”

The educational social media videos, which often include elements of humour, have reached thousands of people online.

And while some people might not have known about Puanga before, Tapiata hopes New Zealanders will embrace it with open arms.

“The inclusion of Puanga could be scary for some, because they've just gotten this concept of Matariki, and now, all of a sudden, there's another star that they have to learn about.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of. It’s trying to showcase that there are more similarities than there are differences.”

Puanga will feature at this year's nationally broadcast hautapu ceremony hosted by Ngāti Rangi at the base of Ruapehu.