The year is drawing to a close and another is beginning with the rising of Matariki.
Children gather in the early morning for Matariki celebrations at Te Kura-ā-Rito o Newton. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins
Kaiako, tamariki and whānau of Te Kura-ā-Rito o Newton gathered in the early hours of Thursday morning to mark the Māori New Year with a series of rituals honouring the past, and looking towards the future.
Luke David Adams arrived about 2.30am alongside a number of parents and staff to get the fires burning for the kai.
"We've got two hāngi going - one for our umu kohukohu whetū, and the hautapu, which is the ceremonial one, and they've got four baskets that we wove.
"There's four stars all to do with kai - one for fresh water, one for salt water, one for kai above the ground, and one for kai below the ground. Each basket, we've put one of the different food groups in there, which we won't eat. We'll leave it ceremonially on the altar all day.
"But the big one here is for us to eat."
Luke David Adams arrived at Newton Central School in the early hours of the morning to help get the fires burning for the school's Matariki celebrations. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins
Whānau began arriving at dawn to start the ceremony with karakia and waiata for those who have passed away in the last year.
For teacher Justin Enoka, it was an especially poignant moment.
"My koro passed away last year and a cousin of mine also drowned, so both of them have been on my heart this morning. It was really special."
Justin Enoka, a teacher at Te Kura-ā-Rito o Newton, said this year's Matariki celebrations were poignant as he remembered loved ones who had recently passed away. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins
School principal Riki Teteina said the ceremony this year followed a long history of Matariki acknowledgements at Newton Central School - about twenty years of gathering, sharing kai, and looking towards the hopes and dreams for the year ahead.
"We're really excited for this being a public holiday. We have been celebrating Matariki for many, many years, and so our celebration, our ritual this morning, is not new to us."
He said Matariki was a wonderful opportunity to bring different communities and cultures together, while honouring something that was truly special.
"We're incredibly pleased to see that this is now not just a Māori worldview of a holiday or of an acknowledgement, but across the country, it's really exciting."
Riki Teteina, the principal of Newton Central School, said the school had long celebrated Matariki and it was exciting to have it officially recognised as a public holiday. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins
Whanau fed the stars and closed off the ceremony with a hākari parakuihi, gathering together to share kai. Justin said that was really what Matariki is all about.
"It's coming together as a whānau and just reflecting about what has happened over the year, and then sharing that with everybody around us with food and soup ... we've been celebrating it for twenty years at Newton and now finally it's a public holiday so that's awesome."
Luke said having holidays like Matariki was pretty special - and perhaps at some point in the future, it could grow into something even bigger.
"We probably need to turn it into a week long thing really."
Volunteers help with the hāngi preparation at Te Kura-ā-Rito o Newton's Matariki celebrations. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins