The Star Fishes

Go to this WicKED site to learn more about Matariki.








Click on the constellation to learn more about Matariki, the Maori New Year.

Today during Maori we read a legend called The Star Fishes to celebrate the Maori New Year.
This is our class retell...

Long, long ago a mother ika told her tamariki to keep close to the rocks and don’t go into the open sea because Tataraimaka is out fishing.

Tataraimaka was a giant who had an enormous black net made out of harakeke. This net was magic.

The sun was shining its brightest which caused the seven ika’s tails to reflect as they played tag. They forgot about their mama’s warning.

Then there was a major disaster. The seven ika got caught in the net. The seven fishes cried salty tears. Tane the God of Light felt sorry for the little ika and took away Tataraimaka’s net and pulled it up into the sky.

The seven ika are now called Matariki. You can see Matariki in early June on the horizon. This time marks the first month of the Maori year. The ingoa of the six stars are – Toheti, Toheta, Tupuanuku, Tupuarangi, Ururangi and Waipuna-a-rangi. One star remains nameless so that it is left for a tamariki who feels lonely to put their ingoa on just before going to sleep. This means they will have company among the star ika.

We created a mural about the story. Here are some photos.