Matariki is a new thing for many of us, with Friday being only the third time that it has been a public holiday, and the public holiday being the thing that brought it into the consciousness of many.

I was incredibly privileged to be invited by Ngai Tahu and Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou to represent Central Otago at the National Matariki celebration and Hautapu ceremony at Treble Cone before dawn on Friday morning, an event that will live long with me.

The Hautapu ceremony involved 10 mostly young Māori calling karakia facing east from the balcony, with each karakia having a specific purpose such as acknowledging the different environmental domains (represented by the stars of the Matariki cluster that was unfortunately hiding behind clouds) and honouring the dead of the last year. 

The latter occurred at the conclusion of the karakia to one of those stars, Pōhutukawa, when steam was released from an earth oven and as it rose into the frigid air, people gathered there called out the names of those they lost in the last year. 

Quiet crying and some wailing could be heard as names precious to those that were there went with the steam toward the stars. It was incredibly moving.

Remembrance is one of the three themes of Matariki, alongside celebrating the present and looking to the future. 

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend two Matariki Hautapu ceremonies and on both occasions have found them a great way to pause, think and reflect on what’s gone before and what’s to come ahead.

Matariki commemorates the Māori New Year in Aotearoa New Zealand and it may just be a day off for many people, and that is entirely fine. 

But, for a growing number, me included, it is something more, something really special and something that, as time progresses, I think will be an increasingly good and important thing for this land and all its people.