Mānawatia a Matariki mā Puanga / Celebrating Matariki and Puanga around the motu

Over the past week, our people have been celebrating the rising of the star cluster Matariki (Pleiades) and Puanga (Rigel) around the motu through the hosting of whāngai i te hautapu ceremonies or hautapu for short.

Hautapu means to feed the stars with sacred offerings and is an opportunity for our people to gather to remember those who have passed since the last appearance of Matariki in our skies, celebrate our achievements and cast our goals for the year ahead to the youngest star of the cluster, Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Calaeno). 

At our hautapu in Pōneke, the names of Fire and Emergency personnel who have passed away in the past year were read out during proceedings acknowledging the star Pōhutukawa (Sterope). The intention is that as we cast the names of our loved ones to Pōhutukawa, they become stars in the night sky in their own right.

Hautapu were held in all of our Regions across the motu, including three locations around Tāmaki Makaurau. Mānawatia a Matariki mā Puanga!