Myth and meaning: Discovering New Zealand’s newest dark sky reserve

It’s a crisp, clear night in Kaikoura, a coastal town on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, when astronomer Dr Larry Fields announces that he’s spotted Matariki in the vast, bright night sky. There’s a collective intake of breath among my companions, an indication of the significance of this special star cluster. Peering through a telescope situated in the garden of a 19th-century whaling station, with the South Pacific waves gently breaking just metres away, I spot a collection of nine bright stars amid a snow-globe-sky of twinkling lights, blazing meteors and distant planets. In a dazzling night sky, it’s a special moment.

The stars have long held a special resonance within Maori culture, with an intimate astronomical knowledge proving essential in sailing vast distances across the Pacific, planting crops and calculating time. Each year, the rising of Matariki in late June or early July signifies the beginning of the new year in the Maori lunar calendar. It’s a time of reflection, of thinking about the people who have passed away during the year, and of planning for the future. As part of a growing awareness of and respect for indigenous traditions and beliefs, the New Zealand government created a new public holiday in 2022 to mark this special day.

“New Zealand was founded on astronomy,” Nayalini Brito, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand tells me. “The Polynesians who found their way to be the first people to occupy New Zealand needed to have very strong astronomical knowledge, as celestial navigation was crucial to this endeavour. This has resulted in strong knowledge and practice of astronomy by the Maori even today.

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“As for Captain Cook, who put New Zealand on the world map, the main reason for his journey to the South Pacific was to observe an astronomical event, the Transit of Venus, from Tahiti. Upon completion, he was asked to look for the great southern continent, which led to his visit and western discovery of New Zealand. He too used celestial navigation to get to New Zealand and to get about – albeit he had the benefit of a compass, sextant and some almanacks, unlike the Polynesians.”

“Even today, the smallest…