A REVIEW OF MĀORI ASTRONOMY IN AOTEAROA-NEW ZEALAND

Across the world indigenous people are seeking to reclaim their traditional knowledge. Within the last fifty years the Māori of Aotearoa-New Zealand 1 have made significant efforts to reclaim their language, arts and science. Part of this renaissance includes a growing Māori movement to reclaim their astronomical knowledge. Māori astronomical understanding was infused throughout much of pre-colonial Māori life, culture and belief. The Sun, Moon and stars were an integral part of practices pertaining to agriculture, architecture, fishing, calendrical systems and exploration. Although early ethnographers attempted to record this knowledge, their works seem to only reflect a somewhat superficial level of understanding. Thus this paper highlights some of the current research being conducted on Māori astronomy, which seeks a greater understanding of how the ancestors of the Māori perceived the heavens.