July 04, 2022
HE WHAKAARO | OPINION: Musing on Matariki mindsets
HE WHAKAARO | OPINION: Musing on Matariki mindsets
By Atakohu Middleton
Kaiako/Lecturer, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau/Auckland University of Technology
I’m watching the activities taking place to celebrate Matariki with a mixture of pride and astonishment. Pride in seeing the values and thinking of te ao Māori being celebrated by so many people in so many places. And astonishment that an indigenous event is now a public holiday. Ka mau te wehi!
Some may remember that in 2009, then Māori Party MP Rahui Katene introduced legislation to create a Matariki public holiday. Labour was in opposition then and supported the bill. However the governing National Party had the numbers and the bill was defeated, but not hugely; the final tally was 59 votes in favour and 63 votes against.
Another 12 years on, Labour was in charge and Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o Te Kāhui o Matariki sailed through 77-43.
The road to authentic biculturalism in this country, that is, recognition and expression of the fact that that this country is founded on a partnership between two peoples, is proving to be long and at times painful, and we’re not there yet.
But with the Matariki public holiday we have taken an important step along the way. Matariki is a Māori celebration, but its values are universal: reflecting on those we have lost, gathering our loved ones close, and taking some time to think about what next. There’s nothing threatening in that.
On the public holiday itself, I found myself wondering how non-Māori engagement with Matariki might have changed their understanding of what it means to live in a country striving for biculturalism.
As a general rule, I stay away from the complete cesspit that is comment section on the 1 News Facebook page; it’s full of people of a fixed mindset who think their worldview is the only one of value.
But for the purposes of this exercise, I looked at the discussion under an explainer about Matariki from Rangi Mātāmua, one of the primary advisers to the government on the Matariki public holiday.
As expected, there were plenty of racist comments, but rebuttals came swiftly and there were plenty of contributions to suggest a lot of non-Māori get the bigger picture.
A non-Māori woman who spent Matariki with a Māori whānau tagged them in this post: “What a special time it is, and I am so grateful to have shared the ‘first’ with your whānau. Remembering your beautiful sister, planting, celebrating, sharing kōrero, song, kai and tea. It felt calm and beautiful and sad and peaceful all at once. I love that we are celebrating together and as a nation, something uniquely Maori (and yet universal at the same time).
Another wrote: “I am officially a European mixed-race: German, Danish, English, and a Scot. I am proud to be a native of Aotearoa. I now have beautiful twin part-Māori grandies. It is exciting to see so many embracing taha Maori and making efforts to better understand our first people.”
And this: “Pre-Christian Europeans all celebrated the winter solstice … it’s past time for us immigrants/invaders from the North to do the same.”
The poster who dismissed Matariki was just another day off got a serve. One response read: “It is not ‘just another holiday.’ How would you feel if someone said that about ANZAC Day; it is of huge significance for our country! Taking time to reflect on the year that has been, be grateful for all we have in the present and prepare for the year to come is an awesome way to invest in wellbeing. Your comment speaks to ignorance. Learn more and you will find it is most certainly not ‘just another day off’ for many of us (because we actually understand its significance both as a day, and also in the broader context of our nation).”
And this, too: “Not ‘just another day off’ for me. I am learning about its importance and what it means and am really proud of our country and that we are all finally embracing it. Mānawatia a Matariki!”
Radio Waatea and its board advise that the opinions posted are those of Atakohu Middleton and not the views of Radio Waatea, its management or its board.