Tamariki celebrate Matariki
Matariki, the Māori New Year, is an important festival that is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and also a marker of the beginning of the new year. We have been celebrating this awesome event through our group time at playgroup and music group.
As we did our weaving with natural materials, we talked about the role that the stars play and how they can be used to tell us when to harvest our crops. We talked about if the stars were bright next seasons crops would be plentiful because it would be warmer.
As tamariki worked with their own creations, we were able to talk about Matariki. We shared the lovely wisdom of this celebration and what this was about – how Matariki means the eyes of God and by flying kites/pākau. Flying kites was seen as a way for them to reach out to the Gods.
We talked about the cluster of stars and the celebrations in the community for Māori New Year as the tamariki manipulated their ow created star mobiles while other had fun with black starry playdough.
Riddle me this...
Poke your fingers in my eyes and I will open my jaws wide. Linen cloth, quills, or paper, I will devour them all.
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
And the 2024 Prospa Local Business Hero is...
A huge congratulations to mother and son duo, Mary and Sam Danielson from The Puketapu Hotel.
The votes for all finalists have been tallied and they have been chosen by Neighbourly members across the country as the Prospa Local Business Hero of 2024.
The Puketapu Hotel was nominated by a local called Margaret and the nomination reads:
'On Feb 14, 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle flooded many of the rural areas. Puketapu Hotel went under perhaps half a meter of water. However, immediately Mary Danielson and her son, Sam Danielson, along with their loyal staff pulled it together to cook copious amounts of food that without electricity would have been wasted. Throughout the years many of us have been treated with a pub gathering where we can reconnect and a free meal. At Christmas there was Santa, games, gifts for kids, donated patchwork for adults, an ice cream truck and lots of camaraderie.
This February on the cyclone anniversary, they again pulled out the stops to give hundreds of us a special night. We are all tired of the cyclone cleanup and they understood that it was needed.'
Such a deserving business and team, well done Mary and Sam. And thank you to all those who voted!
Share your New Zealand music memories...
It's NZ Music Month and New Zealand really has some beautiful songs from artists that we call our own.
Whether it's April Sun in Cuba, Don't Forget your Roots, or How Bizarre or Bic Runga's 'Sway' - songs have a way of unlocking memories and evoking old feelings.
In honour of NZ Music Month, share a New Zealand song or artist that is special to you and explain why.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
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