New Zealand Celebrates Māori New Year as an Official Public Holiday for the First Time

For the first time, New Zealanders are enjoying an official public holiday this June 24 to celebrate Matariki — also known as Māori New Year.

Matariki is the Māori name for a cluster of stars, also known as the Pleiades, the rising of which is recognized by many of the country’s Indigenous people as the start of the new year.

In a statement, the New Zealand government noted that this is “the first public holiday to recognize Te Ao Māori” or the Māori worldview. {snip}

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Māori, who make up about 15% of New Zealand’s population, were dispossessed of much of their land during Britain’s colonization of the country. {snip}

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern introduced a new curriculum with mandatory teaching of Māori history and British colonialism.

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