Editing Matariki (section)

== Māori New Year ==
[[File:Te Paki o Matariki door Turanga-waewae Marae.jpg|thumb|Door displaying Matariki as part of the [[Māori King Movement|Kīngitanga]] coat of arms, Te Māhinārangi meeting house, Tūrangawaewae marae, [[Ngāruawāhia]]]]
[[File:TePakiOMatariki.jpg|thumb|Masthead of ''Te Paki o Matariki'', newspaper of the Kīngitanga movement, showing the stars of Matariki]]
[[File:Waikato Kingite flag Cowan 1930.jpg|thumb|Kīngitanga flag from Waahi, showing the seven stars of Matariki]]
Traditional Māori culture was interwoven with astronomical knowledge, with constellations and the [[Lunar phase|lunar cycle]] used for navigation, planting and harvesting, delineating the seasons, and marking the spawning and migration of fish.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Rātana|first=Liam|date=3 July 2021|title=Matariki, our guiding light|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/03-07-2021/matariki-our-guiding-light/|access-date=9 July 2021|website=[[The Spinoff]]}}</ref> This knowledge was passed down by oral tradition, and different regions and [[iwi]] recorded different dates, significant constellations, and traditional calendars or {{Lang|Mi|maramataka}}.<ref name=":0" />

The [[Pleiades]] constellation (Matariki) is visible for most of the year in New Zealand, except for approximately a month in the middle of winter. Matariki finally sets in the west in the early evening in May, and reappears just prior to [[sun]]rise in late June or early July, which begins the first month of the Māori lunar calendar, Pipiri (meaning to huddle together).<ref>{{Cite dictionary|last=Moorfield|first=John C|date=26 June 2018|title=Pipiri|url=https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=pipiri/|access-date=6 April 2022|dictionary=Te Aka Māori Dictionary}}</ref> All the months of the Māori calendar are indicated by this [[heliacal rising]] of a particular star on the eastern horizon just before dawn, on the night of the new moon: for example, the tenth month, Poutūterangi, is signalled by the heliacal rising of [[Altair]].<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|38}} Matariki's role in signalling the start of the year means it is known as {{Lang|Mi|te whetū o te tau}} ("the star of the year").<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|42}}

The time in midsummer when Matariki is overhead in the night sky is referred to as {{Lang|Mi|te paki o Matariki}}, i.e. the calm weather of summer – a phrase meaning good weather and good fortune. In Māori historical recollection, the [[Tainui (canoe)|Tainui canoe]] was instructed to leave the homeland of [[Hawaiki]] for [[Aotearoa]] in summer, when Matariki was overhead: this being a direct, ancient historical reference to Māori use of star navigation, for long sea voyaging. Because of these associations with peace and calm, the second Māori king, [[Tāwhiao|Matutaera Tāwhiao]], chose Matariki as an emblem, and the [[Māori King Movement|Kīngitanga]] newspaper was named {{Lang|Mi|Te Paki o Matariki}}.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|42}}  

Most celebration of Matariki begins in the [[Lunar phase|last quarter phase]] of the moon after the constellation's first appearance, during 3–4 nights known as "the nights of [[Tangaroa]]" ({{Lang|Mi|ngā po o Tangaroa}}), and finishes on the night before the [[new moon]].<ref name=":0" /> The new moon, or {{Lang|Mi|whiro}}, is considered inauspicious in the Māori calendar, so would spoil any celebrations.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|49}} Because Māori traditionally use a 354-day [[lunar calendar]] with 29.5 days to the month, rather than the 365-day [[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian]] solar calendar, the dates of Matariki vary each year. Māori did not use a single unified lunar calendar, and different iwi might recognise different numbers of months, give them different names, or start the month on the full moon rather than the new moon.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|37–40}}

=== Puanga and Matariki ===
There has also always been regional variation across Aotearoa, in which stars signal the start of the New Year, and what date is chosen to celebrate it. Some [[iwi]] (tribes) – specifically those in the [[Northland Region|far north]] of Te Ika-a-Māui (the [[North Island]]), the mid-western parts of Te Ika-a-Māui around [[Taranaki]], the [[Chatham Islands]], and much of Te Waipounamu ([[South Island]]) – celebrate Puanga, using the rising of the brighter star [[Rigel]] (''Puanga'' in northern Māori, ''Puaka'' in southern Māori) as the marker of the New Year, instead of Matariki. This is sometimes attributed to Puanga being more visible or visible earlier than Matariki, but, as Rangi Mātāmua puts it, "the variation in the rising between Matariki and Puanga is very small, and if the Tangaroa nights of Piripi are observed correctly, then both stars will be seen in the morning sky."<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|75}} It has been suggested that that tradition of Puaka belonged to the first Polynesian settlers to arrive in Aotearoa, and Matariki was brought by a second wave of arrivals, who also brought the first kūmara (with which Matariki is associated).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=Jim|date=2013|title=Puaka and Matariki: the Māori New Year|url=http://thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPS/article/view/48/48|journal=[[Journal of the Polynesian Society]]|volume=122|issue=1|pages=7–20|doi=10.15286/jps.122.1.7-20|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In Māori tradition the stars Puanga and Matariki were rivals, with Puanga beautifying herself every winter, attempting to be the star beside which the sun rises and signals the New Year, but being eternally frustrated when each year the Sun rose beside Matariki.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|75}}

Other iwi use Atutahi ([[Canopus]]) rather than Puanga, or the setting of Rehua ([[Antares]]) in winter, to mark the New Year.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Matamua|first=Rangi|date=21 May 2021|title=Matariki Dates 2022–2052: Matariki Advisory Committee|url=https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/matariki-dates-2022-to-2052-matariki-advisory-group.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702000321/https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/matariki-dates-2022-to-2052-matariki-advisory-group.pdf |archive-date=2021-07-02 |url-status=live|access-date=2 August 2021|website=MBIE}}</ref>