Tupuānuku

Tupu-ā-nuku

Ngā kai a Matariki, nāna i ao ake ki runga.
The foods of Matariki, gathered up by her.

My name is Tupuānuku. I am the star connected to foods grown in the ground, both cultivated and wild. When you see me bright and clear, I hold the promise of a warm and successful growing season.

Te Wā o te Hauhake / The Time of Harvesting

Traditionally, celebrations of Puanga and Matariki follow the harvesting of crops when the pātaka (storehouses) became full.

Tohunga (tribal experts), looked to Puanga and the Matariki star cluster to determine how abundant the next year’s harvest would be.

Ngāi Tahu food growing and gathering habitats were shaped by maramataka (the lunar calendar). Specific maramataka were developed for where harvesters lived and where their primary resources were located within their wakawaka, a traditional method for dividing harvesting areas.

Mahinga Kai

Mahinga kai refers to natural resources from the environment. This can include the tools used, the likes of pounamu (greenstone), rongoā (medicine), dyes, as well as the flora and fauna harvested from the land and waterways for food. It also describes a method of managing these resources. Rights to gather particular resources from specific places, wakawaka, were handed down through generations.

Tupu-ā-nuku

Ngā kai a Matariki, nāna i ao ake ki runga.

Ko Tupuānuku tōku ingoa. Ko au te whetū e hono nei ki ngā kai e tipu ana i te whenua, ahakoa ngakinga mai, papatua mai. Ki te kaha taku muramura, ka tauangi atu au, ka mahana te tau e tū mai nei me te maha o ngā hua ka hauhaketia.

Te Wā o te Hauhake

Mutu ana te hauhake i ngā hua me te whakakī i ngā pātaka, ka timata ngā mahi whakanui i a Puanga rāua ko Matariki.

Ka mātai atu ngā tohunga i a Puanga rāua ko Matariki kia mōhio mai rātou he aha ngā hua me ngā rawa o te tau e tū mai nei.

I ahu mai ngā tikanga mahinga kai o Ngāi Tahu i tā rātou nei whai i te maramataka. I whakaahutia ngā maramataka o tēnā, o tēnā nā runga anō i te wāhi me ngā rawa matua o tēnā wakawaka, o tēnā wakawaka, me kī, he wāhi mahinga kai te wakawaka.

Mahinga Kai

Ko te mahinga kai, ko ngā rawa nō roto i te taiao. Arā noa atu ngā momo mahinga kai, ko ngā momo rākau me te pounamu, ko ngā rongoā, ko ngā tae, ko ngā kaiora me ngā rākau nō te whenua, nō ngā wai hoki. Ka aro atu hoki te mahinga kai ki ngā tikanga whakahaere o ngā rawa. He mea tuku iho te mana whakahaere o ētahi rawa me ngā wakawaka mai tētahi whakatipuranga ki tētahi atu.

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