7th Matariki Month - Hakihea (2nd Year)

Te Marama o Matariki He Maramataka Māori -

Hakihea

7th Month of the Matariki Year - December/January

Ka maranga mai a Pareārau i muri atu i a Tamanui te Rā. Kei te pūāwai te Rewarewa me te Ngaio. E kī ana ngā manga o te Porokaiwhiri i te huarākau. E tākaro whiu teka te Tiemiemi me te Kapowai i roto i te wera. Ka rongohia te reo o ngā pīpī manu, e waiata mai ana i o rātou kōanga. He wā mutunga mō te whakatō i ngā huawhenua.

Jupiter rises after the Sun. Honeysuckle and Ngaio are in flower.Pigeonwood branches are covered with fruit. Blue Damselfly and Common Dragonfly dart around in the heat. Young chicks can be heard and seen in their nests. The last of the crops are now planted.

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Raupō Bullrush

Typha orientalis

‘He tānga kākaho koia kia kitea e te kanohi, 
tēna ko te kokonga ngākau e kore e kitea.’

‘If reeds used for thatching are not straight they are soon detected, 
but not so the corners of the heart.’

This whakatauākī (proverb) is a reference to the obviousness of what is visible to us, while that which is submerged can neither be appreciated, nor clearly understood. 

When the flowers of Raupō appear during Hakihea (7th Matariki month), the earth is hot and the crops have been planted. 

Raupō is a native marsh plant growing wild on the margins of wetlands and swamps from the coast to montane regions throughout New Zealand. Raupō, known also as kōpūpūngāwha, kōpūngūwhā, koare, ngāwhā and kārito, dies away in winter and regrows again in the spring from a matted network of thick starchy rhizomes. Its soft spongy aerated leaves provide oxygen to the submerged parts of the plant. The velvety chocolate-brown female flowers explode during summer and autumn dispersing their densely packed downy seeds on the wind. Male flower spikes produce an abundance of deep-yellow pollen in the middle of summer.

Raupō is a valuable habitat for all kinds of wildlife and a highly respected food, medicinal and building resource. The reeds were used for covering poi, thatching for whare and storehouses, building mokihi or small river boats, sails and kites. The rhizomes were peeled then steamed, or eaten raw. The downy seed heads provided protection for open wounds, softness to sleep on and stuffing for poi. The pua or pollen was gathered and made into pungapunga, sacred, sweet breads blessed by Tohunga. 

Raupō is said to be  sustained by Wai-nui-ata, the personification of water and partner of Tiki the first man, who was made of red clay and  Raupō.