5th Matariki Month - Whiringa-ā-nuku (2nd Year)

Te Marama o Matariki He Maramataka Māori -

Whiringa-ā-nuku

5th Month of the Matariki Year - October/November

Mai i ngā huringa āwhio o Aotahi me te hokinga mai o te Koekoeā i tōna haerenga tawhiti nui tawhiti roa, he tohu tēnei me tīmata te whakatikatika i te whenua mō te whakatō i te kūmara. Kei te kai te Tūi i ngā putiputi o te Harakeke. Kei te mahana ake a Papatūānuku kua rite te wā mō te tō i te kākano. He maha, he nui ngā mahi ahuwhenua.

The celestial movements of Canopus and the return of the Long-tailed Cuckoo from migration signals the time to prepare ground for planting the kūmara crops. Tui are feeding on the flowers of Flax. Earth is now warm and ready for seed. People are busy with gardens.

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Koekoeā Long Tailed Cuckoo 

Eudynamys taitensis

‘Kawe tonu, Kawe tonu.’ 

‘Carry on, carry on.’

This whakatauākī (proverb) refers to the focused determination and strong will displayed by the Koekoeā during its long migration. A reminder that we too can overcome adversities with these qualities.

When the shrill piercing sound of Koekoeā rides in on warm westerly winds from the north during Whiringa-ā-nuku (5th Matariki month), it is time to prepare kūmara for planting.

Koekoeā, known also as Kōhopereoa and Kawekawekā, are a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family and are native to New Zealand. They spend most of their time in the canopies of New Zealands’ tall forests. Adults grow to about 40cm and weigh around 125gm. Their striking dark brown and buff speckled breast and long tail feathers were prized by the māori for cloaks.

They fly over 3’500km to return to the place of their birth for the warm months of summer, where they lays eggs to be reared in the nests of small birds such as whiteheads, yellowheads and brown creepers. Koekoeā chicks hatching first, throw the host chicks from the nest and then mimic their calls. Māori believed Koekoeā was supernatural and of heavenly origins, a child of Rakamaomao, brother to the God of the winds. When the cold winds return from the south in Poutū-te-rangi, the Koekoeā song disappears from our land and they leave home once again for the warmth of the tropics. Kūmara are now ready for harvest. 


Some māori believed Koekoeā lost all its feathers in the cold months of winter and crept into holes where it hibernated in the form of a lizard, shifting its shape once again in the summer.