Maori Research

Summer, on the first leg of its worldwide voyage. When the Hōkūleʻa visits, Tahitians say, “Maeva, a hoi mai”, meaning “Welcome home.” There is a well-documented tradition of voyaging between the two island groups (Tahiti and Hawaii) and it is clear that in the 13th...

Researchers from 3 universities employed computer simulations and climatic data to help them explore the travels that led to the settlement of islands in Remote Oceania UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE, Oregon. -- Oct. 28, 2016 The colonization of far-flung Remote Oceania...

SAILING AGAINST PREVAILING WINDS, SPOTTING BIG ISLANDS April 22, 2015 – Using statistics that describe how an infectious disease spreads, a University of Utah anthropologist analyzed different theories of how people first settled islands of the vast Pacific between...

Nine species of moa disappeared from New Zealand in the wake of human arrival. With them went the giant Haast’s eagle and dozens of smaller bird species including adzebills, endemic geese, mergansers, harriers, teal, snipe and rails. The landscape and ecology of this...

Kay Leather, Hauiti Te Puru Wayfinding involves interpreting simple things like wave movements; cloud formations; star positions; birds flying to and from islands; migratory birds and migratory marine animals; distinct fish populations; different salinity in different...

The books below offer extended learning around the subjects of Maori starlore, astronomy and more: Tatai Arorangi: Maori Astronomy Work of the Gods, by Kay Leather and Richard Hall The Zodiac: Myths and Legends of the Stars by Richard Hall How to Gaze at the Southern...

Tuhoe Pipiri All things of the earth are contracted, owing to the cold, as also man.Te Tahi o Pipiri (the first of Pipiri)Matahi o te tau (first of the season) At the beginning of the Maori New Year the Milky Way lies along the horizon. Kia marama koe kit e kete a...

Second lunar month is Maruroa, the time when the sun halts in its course northward along the horizon, and turns. Each day it rises a little further southward and each day the nights get a little shorter and the days a little longer. In the southern sky, Autahi...

The third month is Otoru, sometimes termed Upokopapa, Torou-kai-tangata and tahu-tahu-ahi (to denote the kindling of many fires), these names are connected with cold and frost. To the Tuhoe people, the third month is Hereturi-koka. It is a time when the scorching...

To the Tuhoe people, the name of the fourth month is Mahuru. In this month the earth has become warmed, as also plants and trees are responding to the increased warmth. In the north of Aotearoa, Matariki Whakaahu (Castor and Pollux) were stars that were used to...

The fifth lunar month – Whiringa-nuku In the fifth lunar month the earth has become quite warm. The crop work is in hand and so right on to the seventh month. By late spring, as the ground warms, the forest trees are decorated with blossom. The people are tormented by...

The sixth month (October-November) Whiringa-a-rangi The summer has arrived. The strength of the sun is felt. The stars The stars that are the guides for the seasons are eternal and are ever flashing in the heavens. Patiki (Whetu-kaupo, theCoalsack Nebula) a very dark...

The Seventh month (November-December) Hakihea The birds now sit on their nests. At this time, early summer, Matariki (the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus) is seen in the evening sky. Matariki is sometimes spoken of as the offspring of Raro (the earth or the...

The eighth month is called Kohi-tātea, Waru puāhaha or Te Waru patote. The fruits are now set. The people eat of the first fruit. The food crops are scarce, just prior to harvest time. At this time, in the forest, many of the edible fruits are set. As the month...

The Tuhoe name for the 9th month is Hui-tanguru. The ninth month is the period when the crops begin to furnish a partial food-supply The Ngati Awa name is Rūhi-te-rangi At this time, the foot of Ruhi rests on the earth. Rūhi-te-rangi (also called Peke-hawani) is a...

THE TENTH LUNAR MONTH (March-April) One name for the tenth lunar month was Pou-tu-te-rangi(Post that lifted up the sky). “When the children of Te Ranginui (the Sky Father) and Papatuanuku (the Earth Mother) determined to push them apart the question was how was it to...

Tuhoe: Paenga-whawha The refuse of food plants is piled on the margins of the fields. Ngahuru (tenth, Williams) 10th and 11th months are sometimes grouped together Willams) The new year began about two months after the harvest was gathered, but little notice was taken...

Haratua (the twelfth lunar month: May-June) “This is the last month of the year according to what the Maori says. On the nights of Tangaroa (i.e. 19th -21st May in 1922) Matariki (Pleiades star cluster) begins to sink and when it finally rises up, it is the nights of...