Information Report - Matariki

Kuraia

WALT - Write an Information Report

Success Criteria

• Clearly explain what I am writing about
• Use factual language
• Summarise the information in my final paragraph
• Begin with classification, definition , general comment in my opening statement

Title : Matariki

Matariki is a cluster of stars known as pleiades. These stars represent the ancestors and as well as stories behind it . Matariki has been around for a very long time from when they used the stars to tell time. Even now we celebrate it with feeds and even light trails . Plus the population has been increasing every year. Matariki isn’t just all about feeds it’s about the start of a new Year from how the maori’s used to tell time.

Matariki stars is the eye of God . There is a story about the earth, wind and heavens . When the God of Earth and Heaven split apart, the God of wind was furious about this situation , so he tore out his eyes and through it into the sky as his lookout . This story is very similar to when a guy named Tawhiri Matea had just found out his parents Ranginui and Papatuanuku had split apart . He got so enraged , that he mangled out his eyes and threw it up into the sky. It is very similar to each other and this is what most people believe how the stars were made .

Why is Matariki during May/June rather the the first of january, if it stands for the Maori New Year.  It is known that maori’s didn’t exactly get the time of the year right. All they did was study the stars to find out time for them . But it was not so long after that new people had traveled to Aotearoa and studied the real time. But when the maori’s figured out time , it was around May and June when they had there New Year because that was the time when the 7 stars had risen as well as a new moon . Which seems like a new beginning.

Matariki was used for helping people find their way . Long ago, nothing like compasses and so on were invented so the maori’s had to use the 7 stars to voyage across sea . These stars were able to get them as far as Rarotonga to Aotearoa. But it wasn’t so easy to get through the day with rough sea. As it is said that Matariki only appears near dawn or at night, but it depends. So they would sometimes just use constellations which is like normal stars to get their way across sea, but they had more difficulties.  

Matariki is a very special event as it’s significance for a Maori New Year. The 7 stars has been through many history’s and many things it is essential for. As I said , Matariki is celebrated in many ways . But now , most people are just holding light trails and feeds. As well , in 2017 there will be 9 stars now . There is no reason in why and how there became 9 stars . But a Professor down in Waikato is a professional star researcher and has just discovered there will be more than 7 stars.