Matariki Ahuka Nui – Dawn Ceremony

In partnership with Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki and Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou, the Dunedin City Council and Tūhura Otago Museum welcome everyone to a public event to celebrate the Māori new year.

Join us on the Tūhura Otago Museum Reserve just before dawn for a karakia to farewell the past year and welcome the new one. The event will include a whakamaumahara to remember those who have passed away, and a whakamāramataka about the stars and their significance for the changing season. 

The maramataka (lunar calendar) measures time based on the movement of celestial bodies in Aotearoa’s skies. For iwi, the rising of the star Puaka and the Matariki cluster in the midwinter sky just before sunrise signals the end of one full cycle of the seasons and the beginning of the next. Following the dawn event, gather together for some kai before a day of fun and activities from 9am.

Puaka kai rau, Matariki ahuka nui 
Nau mai, haere mai. Everyone is welcome.