The resurgence of maramataka is influencing the way many people go about their lives – and Rotorua is preparing to showcase it to the world.
Healthy Families Rotorua is hosting worldwide online symposium, Te Hekenga-ā-Rongo next month.
The livestream event will feature experts and practitioners from Aotearoa who are creating pathways for the revitalisation of mātauranga Māori and positive outcomes to Māori health by using maramataka. Maramataka allows people to increase self-awareness, connect more intimately with the environment, and organise their lives using an holistic system based on an indigenous division of time.
Healthy Families Rotorua Manager Jenny Kaka-Scott says the team has been hosting wānanga and gathering insights from across the rohe for several years to support the growth and development of more passionate Te Arawa practitioners.
“How people have interacted with and applied maramataka in their lives has been both innovative and inspiring, and these journeys we’re proud to share through Te Hekenga-ā-Rongo. We’ve found by working with our community, there’s a growing demand for holistic approaches and solutions that are not only underpinned by mātauranga Māori and ‘kōrero tuku iho’ but successfully grow identity and wellbeing simultaneously,” she says.
Keynote speakers are Rereata Makiha, Dr Rangi Mataamua, Rikki Solomon and Rawiri Waititi, along with special guest from Hawai’i, Kalei Nuuhiwa, who is the co-founder of the ‘Aimalama symposium, which featured Hawaiian practices of the maramataka. The livestream will also include panellist speakers and video examples of mātauranga Māori regeneration.
Healthy Families Rotorua Rautaki Māori & maramataka practitioner, Jade Kameta, says Māori and other Pacific societies are currently reconnecting with their ancestral maramataka to restore hauora wisdom, activate knowledge systems and amplify the whakapapa connections between all living things.
He says he is looking forward to hearing from the stellar line-up of both new and experienced maramataka practitioners who will demonstrate how mātauranga Māori systems, traditions and practices, although ancient, have an important place in today’s suite of prevention practices.
“Maramataka is so much more than a lunar calendar. We’ll hear insights, data, and discoveries from a combination of contemporary maramataka practitioners and tohunga such as Rereata, Rangi, Rikki and Kalei. We’re extremely fortunate to have this calibre of mātauranga in our midst.”
Jade encourages anyone interested in maramataka to tune in to the live symposium where mātauranga Māori will be evidenced as a credible health prevention approach.
“We know maramataka informed our tūpuna around kai. But we’re also hearing how mātauranga Māori can support mental wellness, strengthen our school curriculum, and inform our workplaces regarding staff wellbeing and productivity.
“Our four-hour online symposium will showcase maramataka to the world – it’s monumental – and I’m excited about where this may lead. We’ve seen the maramataka movement grow within the last five years. More people are talking about it and more people are aware of it. There’s still so much more to explore,” says Jade.
Te Hekenga-ā-Rongo will be livestreamed from the Healthy Families Rotorua website on Monday 1 November 2021 from 10am to 2pm.
The event is supported by Te Arawa Whānau Ora, Ngā Pātaka Kōrero o Te Arawa, and the Society of Māori Astronomy Research & Traditions.

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