Maramataka: The Decolonisation of Time
Maramataka is the traditional method of navigating a connection to time, environment, people and places that’s roots of creation are anchored to Aotearoa.
It is a stellar, lunar and solar environmental calendar system that follows the movements of the stars, moon and sun as well as changes in the environment to inform a deeper understanding of the world we live in.
The sun Tamanui-te-rā, and where he rises and sets along the horizon, lets us know what Season we are in.
The stars, ngā whetū, indicate what month we are in. Each lunar month is named after a star which rises as a marker of that time and many of the stars indicate an activity to partake in or a movement in the environment EG when the stars Alphard and Matar are in the sky during the month of Mahuru the spawning of eels begins.
The moon, te marama, and its phases let us know what day we are in.
Maramataka strengthens a relationship of reciprocity between people and whenua, Māori traditionally utilised signs from the environment each month to shape their way of life, in the warmer months mahi and preparation of the earth took centre stage, as the seasons shifted to cooler weather slowing down and focus on connection to each other, learning and mahi a wairua (activities which strengthened our connection to spirit) was what lead the way - moving in alignment with the environment was natural.
The way we understand and view time in Aotearoa today descends from a completely different hemisphere to the one we exist in, therefore the signs and anchor markers within the Gregorian Calendar don’t align with the environment, people or whenua we come from. It was introduced to make the average calendar year more accurately aligned with the earths full cycle around the sun as well as to accurately calculate the date for Easter, a holiday which does not come from Aotearoa.
Photo of Toitū Te Tiriti protest by Andy Day
Adopting Maramataka today is a way to decolonise our view and understanding of time. Maintaining our time keeping systems is maintaining our culture. Everything from the way we introduce ourselves and speak about where we come from (pepehā, whakapapa), our language and the stories we utilise to pass on our cultural history and practices is embedded in the natural world. To practise Maramataka brings us closer to our culture, a place of understanding the whenua that we live upon, the stars which we see in the night sky and the signs that show in our environment.
For wāhine or those who have a menstrual cycle, the movements of the moon mirror the movements of the menstrual cycle. This environmental calendar, Maramataka, has the potential to bring us into deeper connection with our bodies natural patterns and rhythms throughout the month, giving us autonomy to shape our lives by our patterns with the moon.
Maramataka is not just an ancient way of navigating the seas, a marker of season, or an indicator of the best times to fish plant and harvest; it is an invitation to connect to ourselves and our culture more deeply by first connecting with Te Taiao (the environment), in itself this is what it means to be māori, to live naturally alongside our environment.
Article by Samantha Veitch
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