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Matariki
The Māori new year, when the rising of the Pleiades before dawn is read for the year ahead and the dead are remembered.
About Matariki
Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades, and its first rising before dawn in mid-winter marks the Māori new year. Traditionally, families watch the cluster at dawn, and the clarity and brightness of the stars were read as a sign of the coming season's crops. Those who had died in the past year are remembered by name, and their names are called to the stars. A ceremony called hautapu, in which food is steamed in an earth oven and its steam offered to the stars, honours the stars connected to food and the harvest. The day became a public holiday in New Zealand in 2022, and its date is set each year by a group of Māori experts on the calendar.
Also part of it, and being written: Matariki (The festival and the cluster.), Pleiades (The star cluster itself.), Hautapu (The steam offering to the stars.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Matariki" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.