Celebrating Matariki (Māori New Year) at the Beach
3 min read
We join the vibrant Matariki New Year's beach bonfire celebration in Napier, eating delicious s'mores and sitting around the warm fire as we learn about the rich traditions of the Māori New Year.
Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support helps keep this site running. Thank you!
Matariki
In the middle of the New Zealand winter, a cluster of 9 stars begins to peek above the horizon in the early morning. I grew up in Idaho, in the northern hemisphere, and we recognise this cluster as the seven sisters or Pleiades. The early Māori consider this cluster and two adjacent stars as part of a group they call Matariki and the appearance marks the beginning of the Māori new year.
The 9 stars each represent a vital part to the their way of life and living:
- Matariki: Well-being and health
- Tupu-ā-rangi: Food that comes from above
- Tupu-ā-nuku: Food that grows in the soil
- Ururangi: The winds
- Waipunā-ā-rangi: Rainwater
- Hiwa-i-te-rangi: Growth and prosperity
- Waitī: Fresh water
- Waitā: The ocean
- Pōhutukawa: The deceased
This celebration was just recently added as a holiday in New Zealand and many festivities have popped up to observe the holiday as Māori ancestors did.
Bonfires on the beach
One of the more recent traditions that is being celebrated once again is the lighting of bonfires all along the New Zealand coast. We went last year and it was an epic sight from Napier port all the way to the end of Cape Kidnappers was aglow with bonfires.
We built a bigger one out of drift wood around the beach, but the kids wanted to make their own little ones too.
Several families were lighting fireworks and we watched by our fire eating ice cream.
This year I only took the big kids and a few less people showed up, probably due to the crazy rain we had been having the last few days.
There wasn’t as much drift wood either and it was all wet. Last years Cyclone Gabrielle had left plenty on the beach, but this year we just brought a bunch of the pine I had chopped.
We also brought supplies to make S’mores. They don’t have graham crackers here in New Zealand so that was rough, not quite the same!
We stayed up late watching the stars that peeked through the clouds and our neighbors fireworks again. We ended the evening by lighting sticks on fire and drawing images with long exposures.
