10th Matariki Month - Poutu-te-Rangi

Te Marama o Matariki He Maramataka Māori -

Poutū-te-rangi

10th Month of the Māori Year - February/March

Ki te kitea a Poutū-te-rangi e maranga mai ana i te Rāwhiti, he tohu tēnei mo te wā Hauhake. Tïmata i te wā o te maranga o Whānui e kitea ana ki te tahatū o te rangi o te Raki ki te Rāwhiti. Kei te whai huarākau te Kaikōmako te Māhoe me te Karaka. He wā ngahuru ka taka ngā huruhuru o ngā manu. He wā rerenga atu o te Koekoeā, ka timata tōnā haere ki te whenua o Papua New Guinea, me te rere hoki o te Pīpīwharauroa ki ngā moutere te taha Rāwhiti o Fiji.

When Altair is seen rising in the east, prepare for the harvest. It is time to begin when Vega is seen rising in the northeast. White Wood, Kaikōmako and NZ Laurel are fruiting. Birds lose their feathers. Long-tailed Cuckoo leave for Papua New Guinea and the Shining Cuckoo fly to the islands east of Fiji.

__________________________________________

Te Tohu o Kaupeka - Poutū-te-rangi

Sign of the Season - Altair

‘Te ngahuru tikotikoiere, Ko Poutū-te-rangi te matahi o te tau...’
‘Altair carries the first fruits of the year, a bountiful time... ’

The above lines, from an oriori (lullaby) whose main narration relates to the mythical theme of the kūmara, are sung to children when the bright star Poutū-te-rangi appears in the sky.

The oriori is said to have been composed by Enoka Te Pakaru of Te Aitanga-a-mahaki (Taurawhiti/East Coast).

Poutū-te-rangi marks the completion of the growing season. When its light appears before dawn it signals a prosperous time when crops can be lifted and storehouses filled.

Poutū-te-rangi, a navigational star and food-bearer associated with the cultivation of kūmara is located some 15-17 light years from Earth in Aquila, a constellation found in Mangōroa, the Milky Way. Poutū-te-rangi is one of the closest stars visible with the naked eye and is noted for its extremely rapid rotation.

Its appearance heralds a time when Tohunga or Mata Paheru enter the kūmara fields to appraise the maturing tubers. Harvesting takes place over six days from the waning moon-night of Korekore-turua (22), after Whānui (Vega) is sighted, when all signs of mist and dew have left the morning and continues till the Sun reaches its zenith, when harvesting ceases to avoid any dampness affecting the crop.

Poutū-te-rangi is seen as a large hue or gourd in the heavens, its name originates from the Pou or posts that Tāne Mahuta used to lift Rangi the Sky Father from Papatūānuku the Earth Mother so that the light and warmth of the Sun could fall upon Earth.