BrandAs political enthusiasm for New Zealand’s Māori revival wanes, a refreshing indigenous joy arrives this month

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — When Ngarau Mako told her parents she was canceling Christmas celebrations in favor of celebrating Matariki, the Maori new year that is experiencing a renaissance in New Zealand, her The children did not believe him.

“We grew up with Christmas because it was what you did, but I realized it wasn’t my job,” said Brand, a Maori member of New Zealand’s indigenous nation. “I’ve just decided to cancel Christmas, become the Grinch, and take on Matariki.”

Now in its third year as a national folk delight in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar fresh year by climbing to the feet of the superstar heap known as the Pleiades in the Northern Hemisphere. The cause for celebration is the rise in popularity of the brand, as political debates about race in New Zealand have become more divisive. Along with the joy at one’s feet, there is a tension between those who embrace the indigenous language and tradition and a vocal minority who want to see little of it.

Mātauranga Māori – lecturer of Māori knowledge Rangi Matamua said, “In our past, since the arrival of settlers to this land, mostly out of Great Britain, we have really focused on imitating Great Britain and creating our own identity ” – Assistant to the Federal Government at Massey College and at Matariki.

“But I think as we’ve progressed several generations, Aotearoa New Zealand is starting to mature in terms of our understanding of our identity,” he said, using both the Māori and English names for the country.

When BrandNew Zealand established a national presence in 2022, it was the first in the world to acknowledge an indigenous-minority brand, scholars including Matamua believe. Although many did not know what it was. Still, 51% of the country did something to mark the occasion, display reliable statistics, and this number increases to 60% in 2023. Matariki occurs at a different midwinter season every 12 months according to the Māori lunar calendar; In 2024 it is formally celebrated on 28 June.

A 700-year-old tradition that fell out of observance in modern times – even among some of the 1 million Māori who made up New Zealand’s 5 million people – the fortunes of Matariki changed over the next few years as the Māori language, A passionate revival was seen in tradition and traditions.

“The Maori culture has been oppressed for a long time. We’ve almost lost our reo – our language – we’ve almost lost our identity,” said Poropiti Rangitawa, a musician who performed Māori songs at a folk Matariki birthday party outside the capital Wellington today. “But with the hope of our people, our old people, our ancestors, they have nurtured it and now it is really strong.”

The carnival held at Wainuiomata where Rangitawa performed was one of the occasions when New Zealanders of all races turned out to celebrate Matariki. Some people take part in pre-dawn ceremonies where the steam from the food is allowed to “feed the stars” and lists of names are read remembering the dead and those born for the last birthday party .

There were remembrance sites around Wellington – in a back room of a church, in a field – where visitors would show notes to people they had lost: a father, an aunt, a cat.

Casey Vick, attending a birthday party, said, “I just realized that Matariki is about stars, and I like the fact that they’ve got a star for the people we’ve met this year. Lost it.” His people.

For many, an emerging sense of happiness has come through their children, a brand traditional to New Zealand’s Indigenous movement. Protests in the seventies demanding language popularity led to the opening of Māori language pre-schools, with graduates expected to be fluent speakers.

Every primary school in New Zealand now honors Matariki, and many host shared meals for families to mark the occasion. The children come home making a song of the names of the 9 Matariki stars to the music of the Macarena.

“I learned so much more about Matariki from her than I could ever give her,” said Liana Childs, whose 9-year-old daughter Akaylia perfectly narrated the pile of stars. The people are not Māori, Childs said, although he studied Māori seasons, which inform planting and when to look for plants.

“I think it’s brought us closer as a family,” he said.

On the other hand, the political status of the Māori language and tradition is complex.

Phrases in the language are now common in conversation, but Māori also has its critics. Matariki was established as a national presentation under Brand New Zealand’s previous centre-left government, which suggested the country embrace Māori culture. On the other hand, the federal government was consistently criticized for taking modest steps to deal with the serious financial, status and justice problems facing Māori who later colonized New Zealand in the nineteenth century.

The presidential turnaround in late October marked a new time for Matariki. The party said the Wave supports the current centre-right coalition, but one of its coalition partners does not. The federal government has also promised to eliminate some of the policies that discriminate against Māori that were passed by its predecessors, dismantling a Māori state company that gave priority to indigenous brand New Zealanders over non-Māori. die at a younger age than in countries of origin; Some of them have already reverted to their English titles, reversing a proposal to assign Māori names to government businesses; and stopping plans for shared control of public utilities with Māori tribes.

One of the most reignited events has sparked unprecedented debate about BrandNew Zealand’s initiation file, the Treaty of Waitangi – which was signed between Māori tribes and the British Crown in 1840 – with suggestions that modern interpretations have distorted Māori Has been given a lot of rights. The rumblings of revisiting the treaty have sparked protest marches.

“Governments will come and governments will go,” lecturer Matmua said. “Matariki existed before the government, and it will continue to exist after the current government.”

The Māori language and culture were almost wiped out when past politicians took a hostile stance in their tone, Matamua said, but in a family where many are now passionate about it, anyone trying to diminish the birthday party would be The government will be informed that “it’s probably going to be very, very difficult to get the genie back into the bottle it’s trying to do.”

At the Matariki birthday party in Wainuiomata, Tash Simpson stood with her friends at a stall featuring a mix of Māori and Kenyan crafts.

“We are stronger now. Our people are more informed now,” he said of political blackmailing Māori. “But now we know what’s going to happen and we’re prepared.”