This year, Jono and I held our very first Hautapu ceremony at home to commemorated the start of the Matariki season. For our Hautapu ceremony, even though we address the whole nine stars of the Matariki cluster, we focused on honoring Pōhutukawa, the star of remembrance to reflect on our whakapapa, our ancestors and our loved ones who have passed in the last few years.
Pōhutukawa: The Remembrance Star
Pōhutukawa is the eldest of the nine distinct stars (whetū) of the Matariki star cluster observed over the Māori New Year Matariki season.
She is the star that connects us to our ancestors and prompts us to remember loved ones who have passed away. It is a deeply moving part of Māori culture focused on grief, love, and releasing spirits to join the sky as newly formed stars themselves. Experiencing this seasonal shift reveals the emotional heart of life in Aotearoa.
What is a Hautapu ceremony?
The hautapu ceremony (short for whāngai i te hautapu) is a sacred traditional Māori ceremony performed at dawn to welcome the New Year, marked by the rising of the Matariki star cluster. It involves calling to the stars, remembering those who have passed, and cooking food to “feed” the stars with steam.
The ceremony is typically led by a tohunga (expert or priest) and typically unfolds in three main parts:
1. Te Tirohanga (The Viewing)
The ceremony begins in the very early hours before dawn, when tohunga closely observe the Matariki star cluster on the eastern horizon. By assessing the stars’ brightness, colour, and distinctiveness, they make predictions about the productivity and weather of the coming year.
2. Te Taki Mōteatea (Remembrance)
This phase honors loved ones who have passed away since the last rising of Matariki. Karakia (incantations) are recited, and the names of the deceased are called out so that their spirits can become whetū (stars) in the sky.
3. Te Whāngai i ngā Whetū (Feeding the Stars)
An earth oven (umu kohukohu whetū) or a pot is used to cook a specific selection of foods. The meal includes ingredients from four domains associated with specific Matariki stars:
- Tipuānuku: Crops from the earth (e.g., kūmara and rīwai).
- Tipuārangi: Food from the trees and sky (e.g., birds).
- Waitī: Fresh water food.
- Waitā: Salt water/ocean food.
At the completion of specific karakia, the oven is uncovered, allowing the steam to rise into the sky, where Māori believe Matariki feasts upon the offering.
To get a visual understanding of how the community gathers and takes part in this sacred ritual, watching the ceremonies can be incredibly helpful:
Matariki celebrations begin with Hautapu ceremony
I’m incredibly proud to say that I actually worked at this Hautapu ceremony service as one of the museum hosts who helped facilitate the space for this ceremony, which was the first-ever to be broadcast live, “as the nation ushered in the inaugural celebration of Matariki as a public holiday in Aotearoa.”
As a matter of fact, I was already in the country and working at the Museum when Matariki was officially made a public holiday in New Zealand on April 12, 2022, when the Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill was passed. The very first nationwide public holiday to observe it took place on June 24, 2022.
How to host your own hautapu at home
To learn more about the Hautapu ceremony, have a look at the Te Papa Website posts:
What is a hautapu? & How to host your own hautapu at home
I’ve written & filmed a few posts, and video vlogs on my youtube channel, Cecy’s Whimsical Journey about the meaning of each of the stars and what you could do to celebrate and remember them at home during this holiday season in Aotearoa (or wherever you’re watching this from).
In my long-form Pōhutukawa vlog, Jono and I show you how first Hautapu ceremony at home went, where we feed the stars with our hautapu offering and remember our whakapapa, our ancestors and our loved ones who have passed in the last few years.
👉 WATCH THE FULL VLOG
#mānawatiaamatariki #pohutukawa #griefandhealing #newzealandvlog #tereomāori
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