Text title: Matariki Calendar Explanation
Text type: Video
Text creator: Rangi Matamua | Living by The Stars
Critical Literacy Question: In whose interest is this text?
Date: 2nd July 2021
Text type: Video
Text creator: Rangi Matamua | Living by The Stars
Critical Literacy Question: In whose interest is this text?
Date: 2nd July 2021
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| Te Iwi O Matariki | The Nine Stars of Matariki Credit: https://kcc.org.nz/te-iwa-o-matariki-the-nine-stars-of-matariki-promotion/ |
In whose interest is this text?
I would say that people who want to watch the video are those who want to know and learn about Matariki and the Māori calendar. It is a traditional Māori calendar system. It uses different lunar months of the year as well as the lunar calendar to tell time. This is different to the modern solar calendar - the gregorian calendar, used by most people in the world - that follows the sun and the journey of the earth around the sun to give us 365 and a quarter a year.
In the 12-month calendar system that works off a three-year cycle that's driven by Matariki, that lasts 354 days, which spreads across 360 lunar phases throughout the year - this means, every three years, a month is inserted into the calendar system to keep time with the position of the sun. This calendar system is called Te Tautoru Nui O Matariki. They are three stars of the Orion Belt. When they are visible on the eastern horizon when Matariki rises during the new year and midwinter, that is when they determine whether or not they will insert an additional month into the calendar and where they are on the three-year cycle.
In the 12-month calendar system that works off a three-year cycle that's driven by Matariki, that lasts 354 days, which spreads across 360 lunar phases throughout the year - this means, every three years, a month is inserted into the calendar system to keep time with the position of the sun. This calendar system is called Te Tautoru Nui O Matariki. They are three stars of the Orion Belt. When they are visible on the eastern horizon when Matariki rises during the new year and midwinter, that is when they determine whether or not they will insert an additional month into the calendar and where they are on the three-year cycle.
