Editing Matariki (section)

== Name and meaning ==
Matariki is the [[Māori language|Māori]] name for the cluster of stars known to Western astronomers as the [[Pleiades]] in the constellation [[Taurus (constellation)|Taurus]]. {{Lang|Mi|Matariki}} is a shortened version of {{Lang|Mi|Ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea}}, "the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Meredith|first=Paul|date=12 June 2006|title=Matariki – Māori New Year – Modern Matariki|url=http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/matariki-maori-new-year/page-3|access-date=11 July 2021|website=[[Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] }}</ref> According to Māori tradition, [[Tāwhirimātea]], the god of wind and weather, was enraged by the separation of heaven and earth – his parents, [[Rangi and Papa|Ranginui and Papatūānuku]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Meredith|first=Paul|date=12 June 2006|title=Matariki – Māori New Year – Modern Matariki|url=http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/matariki-maori-new-year/page-3|access-date=11 July 2021|website=[[Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] }}</ref> Defeated in battle by his brother, Tāwhirimātea fled to the sky to live with Ranginui, but in his anger he first plucked out his eyes as a gesture of contempt towards his siblings, and flung them into the sky, where they remain, stuck to his father's chest. In Māori tradition the unpredictability of the winds is blamed on Tāwhirimātea's blindness.<ref name="Matamua">{{Cite Q|Q107459808}}</ref>{{rp|20}}

The word {{Lang|Mi|Matariki}} is the name of both the star cluster and one of the stars within it. Other terms for the cluster as a whole include {{Lang|Mi|Te Tautari-nui-o-Matariki}} ("Matariki fixed in the heavens") and {{Lang|Mi|Te Huihui o Matariki}} ("the assembly of Matariki").<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|21–22}}

Matariki is sometimes incorrectly translated as {{Lang|Mi|mata riki}} ("little eyes"), a mistake originating in the work of [[Elsdon Best]] and continued by others.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Arnold|first=Naomi|date=July–August 2018|title=The inheritance|url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-inheritance/|journal=New Zealand Geographic|issue=152|pages=26–27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Best|first=Elsdon|title=Tuhoe: Children of the Mist|publisher=Reed|year=1996|location=Auckland|pages=812}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Cowan |first=James |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-CowYest-t1-body-d1-d7.html |title=The Maori: Yesterday and To-Day |publisher=Whitcombe and Tombs |year=1930 |location=Christchurch |pages=86 |quote=About the Pleiades, the well-schooled old Maori has much to say. To him this benign constellation, “rising through the mellow shade,” is Matariki, or the “little Eyes,” and he regards it with much the same veneration as did the ancient Greek navigators.}}</ref>

=== In other Polynesian cultures ===
The word ''matariki'' or similar, referring to the Pleiades, is found in many [[Polynesian languages|Polynesian]] languages.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Protoform: MATA-LIKI.B [EO] A star cluster, the Pleiades|url=https://pollex.eva.mpg.de/entry/mata-liki.b/|website=Polynesian Lexicon Project Online}}</ref> In the [[Marquesas Islands|Marquesas]] the star cluster is known as {{lang|mqm|Matai{{okina}}i}} or {{Lang|mqm|Mata{{okina}}iki}}, in the [[Cook Islands|Cooks]] as {{lang|rar|Matariki}}, and in the [[Tuamotus|Tuamotu]] archipelago as {{lang|pmt|Mata-ariki}}.<ref name="Matamua"/>{{rp|15}} In some languages it has Best's meaning of 'little eyes', but in most it is a contraction of {{lang|mis|mata-ariki|italic=yes}}, meaning 'eyes of the god' or 'eyes of the chief'.<ref name="Matamua"/>{{rp|19}} In [[Hawaiian Islands|Hawai{{okina}}i]], the rising of {{lang|haw|Makali{{okina}}i}} in November ushers in the four-month season [[Makahiki]], which honours [[Lono]], the god of agriculture and fertility.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kawaharada |first=Dennis |title=Hawaiian Star Lines and Names for Stars |url=http://archive.hokulea.com/ike/hookele/hawaiian_star_lines.html#ke_ka_o_makalii |website=Hawaiian Voyaging Traditions }}</ref><ref name="Matamua"/>{{rp|13}} In Tahiti, the year was divided into two seasons, named according to whether the Pleiades are visible after sunset: {{lang|ty|Matari{{okina}}i i nia}} ('{{lang|ty|Matari{{okina}}i}} above') and {{lang|ty|Matari{{okina}}i i raro}} ('{{lang|ty|Matari{{okina}}i}} below').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=William |title=Polynesian Researches: Polynesia |publisher=Charles E.Tuttle Company |year=1969 |isbn=0804804753 |edition=New |location=Rutland & Tokyo |pages=87}}</ref> On [[Easter Island|Rapa Nui]], Matariki heralded the New Year, and its disappearance in mid-April ended the fishing season.<ref name="Matamua"/>{{rp|15}}