Mātauranga Māori takes centre stage during the Dunedin Puaka Matariki Festival; Māori knowledge, handed down from Aotearoa’s first scientists, artists and story tellers.

Festival Coordinator, Vicki Lenihan, says, “It’s wonderful for Tāngata Māori to have something that celebrates who we are, where we are, and for everyone to share in it – it’s for the whole city.”

Until statistics from its events come in, Vicki can’t say for certain whether Festival attendance is growing, but she believes it is.

“When you get a small, mid-week specialist event such as a talk about whakapapa at the Hocken Library attracting a good 25 people, well, that’s fantastic. At the closing event I lost count at 300 people. Our appeal is broad; some things were specific, some were for the entire family.”

Highlights in year’s 6–22 July programme included talks such as that about understanding of the future through knowing the past by local entrepreneur Ian Taylor, tohunga whakatere (master navigators) Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr and Chadd 'Onohi Paishon (from Tainui and Hawai'i, respectively) and University of Waikato Associate Professor, Dr Rangi Matamua.

Vicki says, “Rangi is a tohunga kōkōrangi – an astronomer, an academic of the highest order and a terrific speaker. He’s made us aware that we’re celebrating a celestial and lunar event, so its dates move, he has gazetted dates forward a number of years for when the festival could take place. He and people such as Alan Gilmore (the former superintendent of the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory at Tekapo) are our kind of contributor – sharing the basket of knowledge.

“Celebrating the innovations our tūpuna (ancestors) have given us is a no brainer. It seems to be part of the Dunedin psyche to value innovation and ambition. I think the wheels are churning for new period of innovation.

“None of these events could be achieved without an immense amount of love and volunteer effort year after year. The Puaka Matariki Festival Steering Roopū, I couldn’t do without them, and with the kaupapa of the event being Māori, consultation is essential – we make collective decisions.”