New Zealand Creates Public Holiday for Māori New Year
The Māori New Year, Matariki, has been made a public holiday in New Zealand. The country will officially celebrate Matariki for the first time on June 24, 2022.
Māori, who are the indigenous people of New Zealand, celebrate Matariki when the cluster of stars of the same name is seen in the sky for the first time each year. According to the Māori calendar, the Matariki stars appearing in the sky means the old year is over and a new one is beginning.
People would look at the Matariki stars to learn what the next harvest would be like. Bright, clear stars were believed to mean a good harvest was coming. If the stars couldn’t be seen well, then there would be cold weather and a bad harvest. Matariki is also a time for Māori families to remember those who have died.
The Matariki cluster is also called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters in English, and Subaru in Japanese. Because the Matariki cluster first appears on a different day each year, the date of the public holiday will change too.
Matariki is celebrated with large meals with family and friends. People also play games, tell stories, sing, dance and fly kites.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, promised to make Matariki a public holiday during the country’s 2020 elections. Ardern said at the time that celebrating Matariki would be good for tourism, and that it was an important part of New Zealand’s national identity.