What is Matariki?

Matariki

Matariki is the Maori  New Year. Matariki is the Maori name for a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades star cluster. Some people think of Matariki as a mother star with six daughters, and it is often referred to as the seven sisters. Others think that Matariki is the eye of the god. When Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother were separated from their children the god of wind Tawhirimatea became angry tearing out his eyes and hurling them into the heavens. Matariki appears in the eastern sky sometime around the shortest day of the year and is thought to determine how successful the harvested crop will be in the coming season. The brighter the stars, the more productive the crop will be.