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Photo: Mark Cannell |
Every year, just before dawn in the winter sky Matariki rises low on the horizon, appearing in the tail of the Milky Way. For Maori the return of Matariki traditionally signified the arrival of winter and the start of a new year. It was also a time to remember those who had passed on, and a welcome opportunity for celebrating the harvest and new life.
Matariki, which literally means ‘little eyes’, is celebrated around the Pacific where in Hawai’i it is called Makali’i and in Japan - Subaru. Matariki was widely recognised in the Pacific as an important navigational star and a sign that the weather was safe for long voyages with the stormy season past. For some iwi the arrival of the bright star Puanga (Rigel) a few days before Matariki signifies the start of the New Year, and for others it is the first full moon after the rising of these constellations.
Sharing in this festival today is still a way to celebrate new beginnings, and for students at Te Puna Wananga at the Faculty of Education a chance to get together and reflect on their educational journey. So students from the Foundation Certificate Tohu Tuapapa Matauranga Maori will be preparing a magical dawn feast for Faculty staff and other education students in the Huarahi Maori programme.
According to Tony Trinick, Associate Dean Maori, the festival is the ideal time for staff and students to get together mid-year. "It’s almost half-way through the year and time to take stock and reflect on the year just gone," he says. "It’s a time of new beginning and hope, but also a great time to celebrate."
For many of these students, their enrolment at the Faculty of Education does indeed represent a new beginning. For Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Huarahi Maori student Les Tepania (Ngapuhi), it was a chance to embrace a challenge and make a difference for his community and iwi. He says he had done numerous jobs and even had his own business but got sick of the daily slog.
"People would say to me ‘Les, you would make a great teacher,’ so I realised that’s maybe where my talent was," he recalls. "Now when I go home I tell my kaumatua that I’m not driving trucks anymore. When they hear that I’m going to be teaching in Te Reo Maori they are just blown away."
Shira Posimani, who is a student in Tohu Tuapapa Matauranga says she is looking forward to Matariki and that the programme is like a "new journey" for her on her way to becoming a physical education teacher.
"The lecturers are helpful and encouraging, and the class is really supportive. It’s like a whanau and there is heaps of aroha. I have no regrets and would recommend the programme to anyone."
