ŌKU WHAKAARO — MY THOUGHTS Matariki is more than a new public holiday

• Published date: 24 June 2022

Many years ago I studied under Sir Mason Durie. He was teaching us about the three forms of knowledge that existed in the world

The first was scientific knowledge, the Western form of knowledge based on the use of scientific methods to establish facts through sciences and theories. The aim of scientific knowledge is to establish verifiable knowledge that is derived through hypothesis and induction.

The second form was faith. Simply put, you either believed it or not.

Tā Mason outlined a third form of knowledge that was developing faster than any other matauranga (knowledge). That third form was indigenous knowledge.

Indigenous knowledge is based on the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by people and societies over time, in a Māori context, whānau, hapū and iwi who have a long history of interaction with their natural surroundings. Matariki is a piece of Māori indigenous knowledge.

Matariki has existed for tens of thousands of years, so we should not think we are going to learn about it in 10 minutes. It is a complex deep pool of indigenous knowledge that contains many cubic litres of untapped wisdom.

Tā Mason was on point when he gave that lecture many years ago regarding indigenous knowledge. Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the many countries embracing indigenous knowledge.

Whether it is the indigenous fire management techniques that now protect large areas of the planet, or the Antarctic animal herd management learnt from the Sami and Nenets reindeer herders, through to the diverse traditional cropping strategies learnt from the tangata whenua of Kenya, Bolivia and China, or rainwater harvesting techniques from India, or even the sustainable management of marine resources as practised by our South Pacific brothers and sisters.

All of these are aspects of indigenous knowledge that are making a positive difference for us and our planet. Matariki has the potential to do the same.

My introduction to Matariki took place many years ago as a Kura Kaupapa Māori teacher at Otepou in Tauranga. We had a kuia there who was very knowledgeable on Matariki and just as all indigenous knowledge requires passing on to stay active and vibrant, she passed her knowledge of Matariki on to all of us.

We learnt waiata (songs) such as the following about the names of the stars in Matariki: E iwa ngā whetū o Matariki e, Tupu-ā-rangi, Pōhutakawa, Ururangi, Tupu-ā-nuku, Waita, Waiti, Hiwa-i-te-rangi...