Matariki

Matariki, the Maori new year season, remembrance, present-day gathering, and planning for the year ahead is the defining context for Matariki. The site's calendar target is the official New Zealand year-map date, and common public activity includes whanau gatherings, remembrance, shared food, storytelling, learning about the stars, and community-led cultural events. Matariki follows a Maori lunar and seasonal calendar and should not be treated as a fixed-date Western new year celebration.

Introduction

Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades star cluster and for the season of the Māori New Year in Aotearoa New Zealand. Its heliacal rising during midwinter signals a period of remembrance, celebration, planning, food sharing, and renewal for many iwi and communities.

Matariki became a national public holiday in 2022 under the Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act. The Gregorian date changes each year according to the maramataka, or Māori lunar-stellar calendar, and always falls on a Friday. In 2026, the public holiday is July 10.

Mātauranga Māori and the sky

Māori knowledge systems connect stars, moon phases, winds, rain, soil, waterways, fisheries, crops, navigation, genealogy, and ceremony.

Matariki is part of a living body of mātauranga Māori rather than simply a translated version of the European New Year.

The star cluster

Matariki is both the name of the cluster and, in many traditions, the name of its central or brightest visible star.

Different iwi recognize different numbers of stars and use distinct names, stories, and seasonal practices.

The nine-star framework

A widely used national framework identifies Matariki and eight related stars: Pōhutukawa, Tupuānuku, Tupuārangi, Waitī, Waitā, Waipunarangi, Ururangi, and Hiwa-i-te-rangi.

This framework supports public education but should not erase iwi and regional variation.

Matariki and Puanga

Some iwi observe Puanga, or Rigel, rather than Matariki because local geography or weather makes it a more reliable seasonal marker.

National celebration should therefore avoid implying that every Māori community historically followed one identical star calendar.

The maramataka

The maramataka organizes time through lunar nights, seasonal signs, environmental observation, and local knowledge.

Matariki public-holiday dates were selected with guidance from an advisory group of mātauranga Māori experts.

Remembrance of the dead

Pōhutukawa is associated in the national framework with people who have died.

Matariki is a time to speak names, remember ancestors, grieve, and acknowledge the continuity between living communities and those who have passed.

Celebrating the present

Families and communities gather for kai, waiata, storytelling, games, art, and time together.

The celebration values relationships and shared well-being rather than requiring expensive commercial activity.

Planning for the future

Hiwa-i-te-rangi is associated with aspirations and wishes.

Matariki creates space to consider future work, education, environmental care, family goals, and collective responsibilities.

Food and the environment

Stars in the widely used framework are associated with food from the ground, trees, fresh water, and the sea, as well as rain and wind.

These associations encourage attention to seasonal abundance, food storage, ecosystems, and sustainable harvesting.

Colonization and suppression

British colonization brought land confiscation, warfare, language suppression, introduced institutions, and disruption of Māori authority and knowledge systems.

Matariki knowledge survived through whānau, hapū, iwi, elders, oral teaching, manuscripts, and cultural practice despite these pressures.

The decline of public observance

Urbanization, schooling, church influence, and the dominance of the Gregorian calendar reduced public visibility in some areas.

Decline was neither complete nor uniform, and it should not be described as if Māori knowledge disappeared.

Twentieth-century revival

Māori language revitalization, scholarship, broadcasting, schools, museums, and iwi leadership helped renew public knowledge of Matariki.

The revival was led by Māori communities and experts rather than invented by the state.

Professor Rangi Mātāmua

Professor Rangiānehu Mātāmua became a leading public scholar of Matariki and mātauranga Māori.

His work drew on knowledge transmitted through his family and helped shape the national public-holiday framework.

The public-holiday campaign

Political and community advocacy called for a holiday that distinctly recognized te ao Māori.

The Labour government announced the holiday plan after the 2020 election and established an expert advisory group.

The 2022 legislation

Te Ture mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki 2022 received royal assent on April 11, 2022.

The legislation is bilingual in te reo Māori and English and sets dates through 2052.

The first national holiday

The first Matariki public holiday was observed on June 24, 2022.

It was the first national public holiday in Aotearoa New Zealand created around mātauranga Māori.

Public-holiday rights

Employees' rights depend on New Zealand holiday law, including whether the day would otherwise be a working day and whether work is required.

The cultural meaning of Matariki should not be reduced to retail opening or a long weekend.

Commercialization and cultural authority

Businesses may use Matariki imagery and promotions.

Responsible participation requires correct language, respect for Māori intellectual and cultural authority, meaningful relationships, and avoidance of tokenism.

Environment and climate

Matariki encourages observation of local skies, water, food systems, and seasonal change.

Climate change, light pollution, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation can disrupt the relationships through which star knowledge is practiced.

Additional historical context 1

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Additional historical context 2

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Additional historical context 3

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Additional historical context 4

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Additional historical context 5

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Additional historical context 6

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Public institutions also need to consider pronunciation, language accuracy, intellectual property, procurement, and who receives authority and payment for teaching. Inviting Māori participation only for ceremony while excluding Māori decision-making reproduces tokenism. A durable holiday depends on relationships with mana whenua and respect for mātauranga as living knowledge.

Historical timeline

Precolonial period: Iwi and hapū use star knowledge and maramataka to guide seasonal life.

Nineteenth century: Colonization disrupts Māori land, language, authority, and public observance.

Twentieth century: Whānau and iwi maintain knowledge while public visibility varies.

Late twentieth century: Māori cultural and language revitalization expands.

2000s–2010s: Schools, museums, media, and communities renew Matariki celebrations.

2020: The government commits to creating a Matariki public holiday.

April 11, 2022: The bilingual Matariki public-holiday law receives royal assent.

June 24, 2022: The first national Matariki public holiday is observed.

July 10, 2026: The public holiday is observed according to the announced calendar.

Today: Matariki centers remembrance, celebration, aspiration, and te ao Māori.

Matariki today

Whānau and communities remember the dead, share kai, observe the stars, sing, tell stories, create art, plan for the future, and care for the environment.

The strongest observances are Māori-led, acknowledge iwi variation and Puanga traditions, distinguish cultural meaning from commercial branding, and explain that the legal date moves according to a Māori lunar-stellar framework.

Sources and further reading

• Matariki.com, Frequently Asked Questions
• Te Papa, What Is Matariki?
• New Zealand Legislation, Matariki Public Holiday Act
• Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Matariki
• Employment New Zealand, Public Holidays
• Te Ara, Matariki and Māori New Year
• Mātauranga Māori Advisory Group
• UNESCO, Indigenous Knowledge

whanau gatherings, remembrance, shared food, storytelling, learning about the stars, and community-led cultural events are associated with Matariki. They reflect Matariki, the Maori new year season, remembrance, present-day gathering, and planning for the year ahead. Matariki follows a Maori lunar and seasonal calendar and should not be treated as a fixed-date Western new year celebration. Closure rules, school programs, travel patterns, and ceremony schedules depend on the responsible authority.