How to Weave Sustainability into Matariki Celebrations

Roimata Sinclair said her father always spoke passionately about Matariki from an early age and advocated for it to be recognized as a holiday and a time of national unity.

She is very happy to see that traditional and modern ways of celebrating Matariki are now being embraced.

“Matariki was a season marked by our Mahinga practice,” she says. “Now is the time to celebrate the end of the titi (mutton bird) harvest season and look forward to the inanga (whitebait) season. It is also the time.”

For Sinclair and its partners Hamiora Gibson Embracing the Matariki spirit involves intertwining our own family traditions and creating new traditions that are sustainable in today’s environment.

It starts with thanking those who passed on their knowledge. “Their teachings have inspired us to inject a modern twist into our traditions and create a celebration unique to our family,” says Sinclair.

The couple, conservationists and hunters, live in Tairawhiti on the east coast with their two young children.Gibson is a catchment Coordinator and Educator At NZ Landcare Trust, restore waterway Protect the threatened wio, or blue duck.

This season is a busy one in the lives of preschoolers, so Sinclair and Gibson aim to celebrate it in a meaningful and manageable way. His one of the simpler Matariki activities they enjoy in Tamariki is Mahitoi, specifically the handmade creative practice.

“We make papier-mâché lanterns by incorporating the flowers grown, picked and pressed in previous matariki. “I’m doing it,” Sinclair says.

In the spring, the flowers grown with the help of the children were collected, crushed and dried, and used to make papier-mâché lanterns.

The highlight of the celebration is the gathering of Extended Whanau for the evening Lantern Walk. This year we plan to create a lantern walk in the shape of Raul with a candle in the center.

Entering a walk with an unlit lantern represents a transition from darkness to light. Once the lanterns are lit, the return walk represents a journey from tranquility to renewed vigor. It signifies the return of the sun and the promise of new beginnings, and evokes a sense of hope and transformation, explains Sinclair.

She says the Lantern Walk provides a peaceful environment to turn inward, reflect on experiences, and set intentions for the coming year. Enabling meaningful and transformative experiences during Matariki season.

“Creating the space and time to do a lantern walk with our Whanau is a great way to embrace the symbols of light, unity, reflection, and connection with Taiao (the natural environment that envelops and surrounds us). It’s a special way to do it,” says Sinclair.

“Matariki is a deep age” reflection, gratitude, connection, You can embrace the rich Whakapapa, Tipuna stories and natural beauty. It is an opportunity to say goodbye to our lost loved ones, and it is also a time for us to unite as Whanau and strengthen the ties that bind us together. ”

Sinclair would like to thank the wonderful people who have contributed to our understanding and knowledge of Matariki.

“Father, Light of Wisdom, taught me the importance of this celestial event. His teachings and passion shaped my appreciation of Matariki, says Sinclair.

“I would also like to thank Whanau and Dr. Rangi Matamua from Toihokura (Maori School of Visual Art and Design). The connection has grown, their wisdom has been added to my Kete and enriched my family’s Matariki celebrations.”