Matariki : the Māori New Year / Libby Hakaraia.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 63).

How Matariki came to be -- Matariki -- a cluster of stars -- Where Matariki can be found -- Mahi whai : Hapimana's story -- Why Matariki was important -- The Maori calendar and crop growing -- Judy's story -- Matariki and the gathering of birds and fishes -- The Maori New Year = Te tau hou -- T ohunga tatai arorangi -- Matariki the signaller -- Matariki -- its role in navigation -- Hekenukumai's story -- Matariki around the world -- Matariki in the Pacific -- Matariki today -- Te Papa Tongarewa -- Matariki as a national holiday -- Some ways to celebrate Matariki -- Stonehenge Aotearoa -- Tainui and Matariki -- Vicki's story -- Waikato taniwha rau -- The rising of Matariki -- Matariki -- poem by Jacq Carter -- Appendix : Maori names for stars, etc.; Milky Way and nebulae; sun, moon and planets; stars and constellations; months of the year -- seasons.

This book is an introduction to the star group Matariki. Known in other cultures by names including the Pleiades and the Seven Sisters, Matariki featured strongly in pre-European New Zealand. It marked the beginning of the Maori calendar, and its rising before the sun in late May or early June was greeted with great festivals. It was used as a guide to planting and havesting, and was studied by tohunga as an omen which told whether the food-gathering season would be plentiful or lean. Libyy Hakaraia includes interviews with astronomers Richard Hall and Vicki Hyde, well known navigator Hekenukumai Busby, and Hapimana Rikihana, who still practises the ancient Maori art of mahi whai, or string patterns. Today more and more people are celebrating the rising of Matariki. For those who wish to join this growing movement, there are suggestions on how to celebrate the Maori New Year - and, most importantly, a guide to finding Matariki in the night sky.