Steve McCabe.

I came to New Zealand sixteen years ago. And when I arrived, I knew nothing of Matariki. But then, I knew little of te ao Māori, and I suspect this has been a common experience among people like me and my family. But it’s been sixteen years since I arrived, and I hope I’ve grown a little since then.

And part of that growth has been my understanding of the land I live in and the people it belongs to. I’ve come to understand that I don’t just live in New Zealand; I also live in Aotearoa. And with that comes an understanding and an appreciation of the people who arrived here long, long before I ever did.

And so to Matariki. I first heard it explained to me as “the Māori new year,” but that makes it sound like something secondary to the “real” new year. So that was my hook; I wanted to learn more about Matariki, and it’s one of the things that helped me to want to understand more about the people whose land I live in.

I’ve learned, I hope. I’ve heard so many disparaging remarks about Māori by people who really should know better, and many of them have focused on mātauranga Māori. But then I’ve read about how Matariki represents a tracking of the stars, a part of the building of a calendar, that is foundational to a worldview that underpinned a thriving civilisation for centuries before my British ancestors showed up to “civilise” folk down here. I’ve learned about how Māori culture is deeply and richly woven with strands of astronomical knowledge, and this has helped me find new levels of respect for my Māori neighbours.

And I’ve come to embrace the festival itself. Summer in Aotearoa is glorious; there’s nowhere in the world quite like it. But winter in Tāmaki Makaurau is, frankly, bleak. And so, any people who were wise enough to develop a celebration like Matariki, in the deepest drear of the winter of Te Ika-a-Māui, deserve my respect.

So, I’ll be celebrating Matariki again this year. It is, of course, a national holiday now, as it should be. But it’s also ours. It’s uniquely Aotearoa, something no other bugger has. And that alone makes it special.