A time to express hopes and dreams

Fires were burning not long after 4am, a ceremony was under way at 5am and a new year was welcomed by a good gathering at Dunedin’s Araiteuru Marae.

Marae manager Tania Sharee Williams described the occasion yesterday as a chance to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the next, see friends and gather for kai.

"We remember the dead and we say out their names through ceremony."

The occasion was also about expressing aspirations and dreams, "for our family, our hapū, our iwi, our marae, our country".

Ms Williams was impressed by the 5am turnout at the Shetland St marae in Wakari, celebrating the new year on the Matariki public holiday.

"We had about 80 people turn up and we had a wonderful gathering outside where we went through our hautapu ceremony," she said.

"We acknowledge the kahui whetu, which is the stars of Matariki, and we understand that each one of them has a role where they have an effect on different parts of the environment that give us resourcing for sustenance."

People sometimes wrote messages and placed them in the fire, she said.

Commemorating loved ones could be empowering, "especially for people who have recently in this last year lost someone — to be able to remember that person again through ceremony is easing for the heart".

People of various nationalities were there, including a couple from France and a young man from China.

"We were blessed that the rain held off for us," she said.

"It was quite mild and — just all the fires burning, the torches going, as well as the cooking of the food for our kahui whetu — created a really warm ambience."