Aidan’s trip back home for Matariki wānanga with Professor Rangi Mātāmua
Healthy Families Hutt Valley Kaiārahi Māori, Aidan Crawford with Professor Rangi Mātāmua.
This year’s Matariki theme is Matariki Kāinga Hokia (Matariki calls you home), encouraging people to journey back home and spend time with whānau and friends.
That’s exactly what our Healthy Families Hutt Valley Kāiarahi Māori, Aidan Crawford did last month when he headed back to his home in Te Tai Rāwhiti – East Coast, to attend a wānanga with Māori astronomy expert and New Zealander of the Year, Professor Rangi Mātāmua. The wānanga was focused around Matariki and its connection to the environment, Maramataka, the māori concept of time and reconnecting to the knowledge of our ancestors.
Aidan attending the Matariki wānanga in Te Tai Rāwhiti.
Matariki Kāinga Hokia isn’t limited to only returning to your roots, but also returning to your kāinga rua (second home) and sharing the knowledge of Matariki and Maramataka with our communities and whānau.
Aidan saw the opportunity to share back his learnings and knowledge from the wānanga with the Healthy Families Hutt Valley team and the wider Connected Communities team.
“The team really enjoyed learning the moon phases and energy levels, they learned the hand gestures that physically symbolise what the phases look like to help memorise and identify each phase, which is important when looking at a Māori lens of time.
They also now know when to apply it to the appropriate activities within the workplace e.g., be out in the environment in the Rākaunui phase, arrange hui around the Korekore phase and plan wānanga during the Whiro phase, etc” says Aidan.
Picture 1: Aidan teaching Maramataka to his team. Picture 2 &3: Aidan attending Ngāti Toa Rangatira’s Matariki Hautapu ceremony with Mayor Campbell Barry.
The wānanga also had a significant impact on Aidan’s personal life, having the opportunity to connect with his hometown but also seeing the devastation of the whenua first-hand and seeing the impact that Cyclone Gabrielle had on his people and whenua of the East Coast.
“Seeing trees torn to shreds, communities being wiped out, marae guttered, urupa swamped, bridges washed away, mud everywhere, roads ripped apart, livelihoods destroyed was tough. It got harder to face the closer I got to home, the memories I have of my kāenga buried under silt is still painful, especially knowing the long road that we have ahead of restoring the hauora of our whenua to what it once was” says Aidan.
A beautiful sunrise in Te Tai Rāwhiti.
The wānanga has given Aidan more of an effort to step away from technology and prioritise connecting with people, the taiao (environment) and his overall wellbeing.
“What I enjoyed most was being lucky enough to go home and being a part of this beautiful kaupapa and learning about my kāenga (home) and ancestral knowledge. Living as an urban Māori I feel that disconnect when I am not being rejuvenated by the winds of Te Tai Rāwhiti, so allowing me that space to reconnect with my people, my whenua and my language is very healing. If I had the opportunity to do this again, I would take my pēpi (baby) with me next time.
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