Mānawatia a Matariki
Many of you would have found yourselves leaking tears of joy, pride or a sense of awe over the Matariki weekend. Some friends and I spent the evening at Te Whanganui-a-Tara along with thousands and thousands of others who came out to celebrate together this amazing moment in the history of Aotearoa.
We were also fortunate to be present during a wānanga at Te Papa, where Dr Pauline Harris, Ayla Hoeta ,Dr Dee Sciascia and Dr Ruakere Hond shared their experiences, knowledge and passion.
The weekend at Pōneke was amazing, it is such a vibrant city, full of culture and amazing celebrations. We even managed to fit in going to see the movie Whina - now that was also a time for tissues.
Te Aho Matariki Wānanga, Te Papa, 2022
As we drove home we talked about the highlights of the weekend, of which there were many, including trying to teach Raechel to knit. For all of us though the main highlight was the sense of awe for what had just happened in terms of significant shifts in accepting and celebrating of Mātauranga Māori. During the wānanga at Te Papa the panel were asked a pātai from someone in the audience, he asked, “when in the history of Aotearoa has something like this happened in the past?”
There are many examples in the history of Aotearoa where change has been lead by Māori, for Māori, embraced by the Government and embraced by most of Aotearoa. For example the Kohānga Reo movement, the impact Naida Glavish (the kai ora lady), Māori TV, Māori Education Movement, Māori Land Movement etc these have all been steps in the right direction.
The Matariki celebration is a continuation of the steps we have taken so far. For many the dance may have felt slow, 2 steps forward and 1 step back as we navigated our way through issues that needed to be addressed and at times the progress was unbearably slow. What will make a difference this time? You will, we all will. Mahatma Gandhi said, “be the change you want to see in the world”. It is up to us individually to keep the momentum going. Tā Hemi Henare said, "Kua tawhiti kē to haerenga mai, kia kore e haere tonu. He nui rawa o mahi, kia kore e mahi tonu." We have done too much to not do more, we have come too far to not go further." We can go further, we can move from our sometimes surface implementation of a bicultural curriculum into a space where mātauranga Māori permeates through all aspects of our early childhood curriculum design. From Matariki 2022, when the whole nation stopped and celebrated mātauranga Māori, what are you going to do differently?
Hiwa-i-te-rangi, reminds us that this is a time to think about our hopes and dreams for the coming year. Hiwa - means ‘vigorous growth’, I love that, it is not about a slow ambling over the coming year or a stalling, thinking that was a great weekend then waiting for next year to continue thinking about mātauranga Māori, let’s be really intentional about keeping the momentum that Matariki has started going. You might like to click this link to find a form to gather your hopes and dreams. You also might like to email it to me, I would love to know what 2022-23 will look like for you, then in June 2023 I will send the form back to you and we can celebrate your journey together.
We have come too far not to go further. We have done too much to not do more. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?