Matariki 2020: A collection
Matariki - our time to acknowledge and release our loved ones who have passed on since the last time Matariki constellation arose.
Our time to watch as Te Waka of Tama Rereti picks them up, transporting and transforming them into the stars that will forever guide us.
A time to breathe lightly, after a period that becomes heavier at each passing. A time to offer a meal ki ngā whetū, to the stars, our ancestors. A space to tap into the mātauranga that allows us to plan for the seasons ahead.
This series is my experimental mōteatea, my kawe mate, my acknowledgement and contemplation of mourning. My articulation of embodying our knowledge and the rituals of our Māori ancestors. With our ancestral knowledge and our stars in the sky, we are never alone.
Image Credit: Tina Tangiweto
Grandma
Some days, when I’m stuck in my whiro,
I find it hard to forgive you for those brief moments that
had a huge impact.
Like when I was 10 and greeted you on the phone with ‘Kia ora’
and you told me to never say that word again.
As I look back at photos of you,
I remember just how much you love and lived
for your grandchildren.
In every photo you’re holding one of us, gleaming with pure joy.
Everything you did,
you did because you really believed that was best for us.
Love you forever and always,
Your brown eyed granddaughter
‘Tipuna wahine e Wairakau Takitaki’
Image Credit: Tina Tangiweto
1918,
Pōhutukawa in full bloom, kaimoana ready for harvest,
Suddenly our people start to cough,
and our whakapapa unravels.
Although you took your last breath over 100 years ago,
I have mourned you deeply this time e Kui.
I think about the seven children you left behind when the influenza struck,
the youngest, not even one.
I think about you resting in an unmarked mass grave,
with the many other Māori who died suddenly from this foreign disease.
I think about your forced migration when you were a rangatahi,
as a result of colonial conflict and war.
Your life will never be forgotten,
as your strength & suffering,
lights the fire in my puku.
Moe mai rā e te tipuna wahine xx
Tipuna tāne a Godfrey Alexander Fairlie
Image Credit: Tina Tangiweto
I tēnei Paengawhāwhā I learnt your
bones still lay in foreign lands.
I learnt that you left your tūrangawaewae
when you were 18,
to fight in a war that wasn't yours.
“The price of citizenship” - that's what they say,
killed in action
just days before your 21st birthday.
It's heavy to think that your mokopuna never came to be,
and if you were your brother,
we would never exist.
Moe mai rā e te tipuna tāne xx
Nanny Bobbie
Image Credit: Tina Tangiweto
Your surface grumpiness that made the kids behave,
could never mask the deep love,
and safety you provided for many.
We miss and remember you dearly.
Moe mai rā e Nanny Bobbie,
See you in the stars xxx
Nanna
Image Credit: Tina Tangiweto
Through stories, I learnt that you were a strong woman,
that suffered at the hands of a man and his drink.
When you left him,
you continued on raising seven children all on your own.
In your 92 years of life, you created many,
from those seven children arrived many grandchildren,
great-grandchildren,
and great-great-grandchildren.
through you, we will always be bound together.
Love you lots Nanna,
See you in the stars xxx
