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Kōrero: Maramataka – the lunar calendar

Te wā mō te whakatō kai me te hī ika

Audio file

Ko te pō kē te kaiwhakarite wā ki te Māori, kāpā ko te rā. Ka tīmata te wātaka i te eanga o te kōhiti, arā, te marama hōu. He ingoa tō tēnā pō, tō tēnā pō. He pai ētahi pō mō te hī ika, te mahi tuna, te whakatō kai; ko ētahi pō, kāore i pai. Kōrero ai a Matarēhua Wikiriwhi mō te whakatō kai me te hī ika a te Māori i raro i te maramataka Māori.

Tuhinga

Now trying to reconcile Whiro, the new moon time period and Rākaunui, the full moon time period with a modern 28-day 30-day, 31-day day calendar requires quite some adjustment. And so I work on the assumption that the only fixed periods are the periods of the new moon and the full moon. And there's no question that our ancestors studied the influence of the moon and on plant growth generally and they knew what times according to the phases of the moon were the most appropriate times for planting. No question and fishing and all these other activities with which they were concerned and connected with being in those days because having to live for and with nature.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Reference: 44119

Image: Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand, Em0738LC8, by John Hunt

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Paul Meredith, Maramataka – the lunar calendar – Nights of the month, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/speech/5389/te-wa-mo-te-whakato-kai-me-te-hi-ika (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Paul Meredith, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.