Friday, 14 July 2023
0615 Dr Rangi Matamua, Maori should be 'once were gardeners'
Te Wharekura o Mauao in Tauranga recently hosted Professor Rangi Matamua who was a key figure behind Matariki becoming a national holiday. Dr Matamua is still spending many days on the road sharing his knowledge about Matariki.
0625 Troy Kingi's Matariki concert
Last night musical maestro Troy Kingi performed alongside the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra for a special Matariki concert. Not long before that Julian Wilcox sat down with him in Kerikeri.
0635 Hautapu at Rotorua Skyline
This year you will hear a major difference in the way the hautapu is undertaken from the previous national ceremony at Te Papa in Wellington last year. There will be fourteen karakia. However, women have been included this year to lead some incantations. This is a key difference from last year, where all the incantations were undertaken by men.
0720 Tohunga Mataia Keepa
The Hautapu ceremony was significant for many reasons, and its takes time to prepare, train, and then deliver the ceremony we have just heard. Central to proceedings and developments here in Rotorua was Tohunga, Mataia Keepa.
0730 Astronomer Victoria Campbell leads lakefront Matariki tour
At Lake Takapo renowned Maori astronomer Victoria Campbell is leading celebrations of the dawn rising of Matariki under the cloak of the world's largest gold dark sky reserve with Matariki Ahuka Nui - a guided Matariki Observation on the lakefront.
0810 Ngati Whatua Orakei host umu kohukohu whetu ceremony
In Tamaki Makaurau an umu kohukohu whetu ceremony was conducted at Bastion Point this morning by Ngati Whatua Orakei. This is the 3rd year a partnership between Auckland City Council and Ngati Whatua Orakei have joined together to acknowledge and celebrate Matariki.
0820 Renovation of Tauranga kapehu - star compass
Last year on the inaugural Matariki holiday - Atea a Rangi - the name of the kapehu or star compass was unveiled. The greenstone compass, sourced from the Arahura River in the South Island, sits at the peak of Mauao in Tauranga. Now it has had bronze rings added to it and the builders hope the compass lasts at least 200 years.
0835 Waka launched from Alaska could be in NZ next year
Celestial navigator Jack Thatcher says a waka recently launched from Alaska which will journey to the USA, Mexico and is due to arrive in Aotearoa in 2024.
0910 Pa Ropata
Robert McGowan - also known as Pa Ropata - learned about the various medicinal properties of native plants by spending quality time with Whanganui Kuia Rua Henare in the 1970's. Fifty years later, Ropata is a leading figure in Rongoā Māori, often busy hosting wānanga and workshops.
0925 Duane Hamacher on growing popularity of indigenous astronomy
Matariki's ascendancy to a national holiday builds on a growing awareness of indigenous astronomy around the world. It certainly caught the imagination of Duane Hamacher who's an associate professor of cultural astronomy at the University of Melbourne.