Wananga Reflection - Matariki

Today in our wananga class, we watched some videos about the story of Matariki. Our reflection for this week is about Matariki. Our school bell this week is also about Matariki. Some of us might not know about Matariki and what is the meaning of the 9 stars. Those 9 stars have different meaning base on their name. They said that those nine stars are the mother, the twins that the rest are the sisters. 

The 9 stars of Matariki

• Matariki
• Tupuarangi
• Waipuna-a-rangi
• Waiti
• Tupuanuku
• Ururangi
• Waita
• Pohutukawa
• Hiwa-i-te-Rangi

                                                                The Story Of Matariki

In the beginning of time there was nothing, no earth, sea or sky just, Te pō,  darkness. In this Te Kore, nothingness, Ranginui the sky father and Papatūānuku the earth mother came to be. They lay together in a tight embrace. Together, they had many children who were all male. The sons lived between them in the darkness. As the children grew up, they wondered what it would be like to live in the light. Tūmatauenga, the fiercest of all the sons, shouted to his brothers, “Let’s kill them!”  The brothers disagreed. Tānemahuta, the god of the forests and birds, had a solution to the problem, “We will push them apart, Ranginui will be in the sky above us and Papatūānuku will stay below us so she remains close.” Rongomātāne, the god of cultivated food, tried to push his parents apart. He pushed and pushed with no success. Then Tangaroa, the god of the sea, and Haumia-tiketike, the god of wild food joined him. Together they pushed and pushed but still their parents would not let go of each other.

Eventually, Tāne tried. He placed his shoulders on his mother and his feet on his father and pushed hard for a very long time. Rangi and Papa called out in distress, “Why are you doing this?” “Please don’t separate us.”  Tāne continued to push with his strong legs, until finally Rangi and Papa were prised apart. The children were excited to finally have light and space to move. Tāwhirimātea, the god of the wind, was angry about the separation. He could not stand to hear his parents in pain, or to see the tears coming from Ranginui. āwhirimātea was so angry that in a rage he threw his eyes up into the sky. His eyes are now known as the stars of Matariki.