Editing Matariki (section)

== Traditional celebration ==
Matariki was an occasion to mourn the deceased, celebrate the present, and prepare the ground for the coming year.<ref name=":0" /> The ceremony had three parts: viewing the stars, remembering the deceased, and making an offering of food to the stars.<ref name=":0" /> This time of the year was also a good time to instruct young people in the lore of the land and the forest. In addition, certain birds and fish were associated with Matariki: to [[Ngāi Tūhoe|Tūhoe]] it marked the beginning of the season where [[kererū]] or native pigeon could be captured, cooked, and preserved in its own fat, and the rise of Matariki corresponded with the return of [[Pouched lamprey|korokoro]] (lampreys) from the sea to spawn in rivers.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|75}}  
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200" caption="Food traditionally associated with Matariki">
File:Kumara for sale in New Zealand (2021).jpg|[[Kūmara]] (''Ipomoea batatas'')
File:Kererū on a rangiora at Zealandia.jpg|[[Kererū]] (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'')
File:Lamprey (Geotria australis), Northland.jpg|[[Pouched lamprey|Korokoro]] (''Geotria australis'')
</gallery>

=== Viewing ===
Because of the frequent poor weather in winter, the viewing of Matariki was spread across the three or four nights of Tangaroa to increase the chance that the stars would be clearly seen. The first clear night marked the beginning of festivities.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|45}} When Matariki reappeared, Māori would look to its stars for a forecast of the coming season's prosperity: if they shone clear and bright, the remaining winter would be warm, but hazy or twinkling stars predicted bad weather in the season ahead.<ref name=":0" /> The colour, brightness, and distinctiveness of each star in Matariki would be assessed, and forecasts made according to each of their associations: for example, if Tupu-ā-rangi did not shine clearly then hunters would expect a poor catch of birds in the coming season. Pōhutukawa was linked to the deceased, so its brightness would signal how many people were likely to pass away in the coming year.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|60–61}} These predictions were made by [[tohunga]] kōkōrangi, learned elders who had studied and debated for many years in a whare kōkōrangi (house of astronomical learning).

=== Remembering the deceased ===
After the forecasts for the year had been read from the stars, the deceased were invoked with tears and song in a ceremony called {{Lang|Mi|te taki mōteatea}} ("the reciting of laments"). The names of everyone who had died since Matariki's last rising were recited.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|63}} Traditionally, Māori believed that the spirits of the dead were collected during the year and at the setting of Matariki in the month of Hautara they were led into the afterlife. On the rising of Matariki at the start of the year, the deceased of the past year were carried up from the underworld and cast up into the night sky to become stars, accompanied by prayers and the recitation of their names. Beginning the mourning for the previous year's departed at Matariki is still reflected in modern Māori mourning practices.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|64–65}}

=== Offering of food ===
An important part of the celebration was {{Lang|Mi|whāngai i te hautapu}}, a ceremonial offering of food to the stars. The reasoning was that Matariki, after shepherding the spirits of the dead up from the underworld and turning the sun back from the winter solstice, would be weak and in need of sustenance. A small [[hāngī]] or earth oven was built, with heated stones in a pit on which was placed food, a layer of leaves, and earth. The uncovering of the cooked food released steam which rose into the sky and fed the stars, the steam being the {{Lang|Mi|hautapu}} or sacred offering.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|69–70}} The food was chosen to correspond with the domains of the stars in Matariki: these might include [[Sweet potato|kūmara]] for Tupuānuku, a bird for Tupuārangi, freshwater fish for Waitī, and shellfish for Waitā. The offering of food was the final part of the ceremony, which ended at sunrise.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|69–70}}

The Matariki ceremony was followed by days of festivities – song, dance, and feasting – known as {{Lang|Mi|te mātahi o te tau}} ("the first fruits of the year"), celebrating prosperity, life, and the promise of the year to come.<ref name="Matamua" />{{rp|72–73}}