As political fervor for New Zealand's Māori resurgence wanes, a new Indigenous holiday comes of age

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — When Ngarauru Mako told her family she was calling off Christmas festivities in favor of celebrating Matariki, the Māori new year holiday that's experiencing a renaissance in New Zealand, her children didn’t believe her.

“We grew up with Christmas because it was just what you did, but I realized it wasn’t my thing,” said Mako, who is Māori, a member of New Zealand’s Indigenous people. “I just decided myself to cancel Christmas, be the Grinch, and take on Matariki.”

Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. The holiday is seeing a surge in popularity, even as political debates about race in New Zealand have grown more divisive. Accompanying the holiday's rise is a tension between those embracing Indigenous language and culture, and a vocal minority who wish to see less of it.

“For much of our past, since the arrival of settlers to this land, mostly out of Great Britain, we’ve really looked to mimic and build our identity off Great Britain,” said Rangi Mātāmua, professor of Mātauranga Māori -– Māori knowledge — at Massey University and an adviser to the government on Matariki.

“But I think as we’ve moved a number of generations on, Aotearoa New Zealand is starting to come of age in terms of our understanding of our identity," he added, using both the Māori and English names for the country.

When New Zealand established the national day in 2022, it became the first nation in the world to recognize an Indigenous-minority holiday, scholars including Mātāmua believe. But many did not know what it was. Even so, 51% of people did something to mark the day, official figures show, and that number grew to 60% in 2023. Matariki falls on a different midwinter date each year based on the Māori lunar calendar; in 2024 it is officially celebrated on June 28.

A 700-year-old tradition that fell out of observance in modern times — even among the 1 million Māori who make up New Zealand’s population of 5 million -– the fortunes of Matariki changed over the past few decades, as Māori language, culture and traditions saw a passionate resurgence.

“Māori culture has been oppressed for a long, long time. We lost our reo — our language — nearly, we nearly lost our identity,” said Poropiti Rangitaawa, a musician who performed Māori songs this month at a family Matariki celebration outside of Wellington, the capital city. “But with the hope of our people, our old people, our ancestors, they have brought it up and now it’s really strong.”

The carnival day at Wainuiomata where Rangitaawa played was one of many events New Zealanders of all ethnicities attended to mark Matariki. Some attended predawn ceremonies where steam from food is released to “feed the stars” and lists of names are read remembering the dead and those born since the last celebration.

Dotted around Wellington were remembrance spots — in the back room of a church, in a garden -– where visitors displayed notes to those they had lost: a dad, an aunt, a cat.

“It’s only just now that I’m realizing Matariki is about the stars, and I love the fact that they’ve got a star for the ones we’ve lost in the year,” said Casey Wick, attending a celebration with her family.

For many, a growing knowledge of the holiday has come through their children, which is typical of New Zealand's Indigenous movement. Protests in the 1970s seeking recognition of the language gave rise to Māori language pre-schools whose first generation of graduates are fluent speakers.

Every elementary school in New Zealand now recognizes Matariki, and many this month hosted shared meals for families to celebrate. Children come home singing the names of the nine Matariki stars to the tune of the Macarena.

“I learn more from her about Matariki than I could ever give to her,” said Liana Childs, whose daughter Akaylia, 9, recited the stars of the cluster perfectly. The family is not Māori, Childs said, but they studied the Māori seasons, which guide the planting of crops and when to hunt.

“I think it’s just brought us closer together as a family,” she said.

The political climate for Māori language and culture, however, is complicated.

Words in the language are now commonplace in conversations, but Māori has its detractors, too. Matariki was established as a national day under New Zealand’s previous center-left government, which urged the country to embrace Māori culture. The government, however, was often decried for doing little to address woeful economic, health and justice issues for Māori that became entrenched after New Zealand was colonized in the 19th century.

A change of government last October meant a new era for Matariki. The party leading the current center-right coalition supports the day, but one of its coalition partners does not. The government has also pledged to scrap some policies recognizing Māori that were passed by its predecessors, getting rid of a Māori health agency that prioritized Indigenous New Zealanders, who die younger than people of non-Maori descent; reversing a movement to grant Māori names to government agencies, some of which have already reverted to their English titles; and halting plans for shared management of public utilities with Māori tribes.

One of the governing parties has provoked a fresh debate about New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi -– signed between Māori tribes and the British Crown in 1840 -– with the suggestion that modern interpretations have given Māori too many rights. The rumblings about a revisited treaty have prompted protest marches.

“Governments will come and governments will go,” said Mātāmua, the professor. “Matariki existed before government, and it will continue to exist after the current government.”

Māori language and culture almost died out when earlier politicians opposed their expression, Mātāmua said, but in a nation where many are now enthusiastic about it, any government trying to curtail the celebration would learn “that perhaps trying to put this genie back in the bottle would be very, very difficult."

At the Matariki celebration in Wainuiomata, Tash Simpson stood with friends at a stall that fused Māori and Kenyan crafts.

“We’re stronger now. Our people are more knowledgeable now,” she said of political threats to Māori. “But now we know what’s coming and we’re ready.”

Participants perform a waiata, or a song in Maori, during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

A general view of products at a Rongoā (traditional Māori medicine) stall during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

Dolz Kaukau, left, and Andrew Ngovi check out the food stalls during during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

Pounamu carvings are displayed for sale at a stall during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

CORRECTING FIRST LINE- Alice, left, and Shuxiong Zheng make steamed buns during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub in Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

People enjoy the atmosphere during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

People listen to music during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub in Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

Neil, second left, and Marilyn of the Lions Club of Wainuiomata, work at a barbecue stall during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub in Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

A stall worker talks to a customer during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

Cousins Summer Quinn and Danielle Quinn, second right, talk to customers at their stall during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

Perceus Samuels smiles after having his face painted during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub in Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

Perceus Samuels smiles after having his face painted during Matariki Whanau Day at the Wainuiomata Community Hub, Wellington, New Zealand on June 22, 2024. Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. (AP Photo/Hagen Hopkins)

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday dismissed suggestions that his party was headed to defeat in the July 4 general election, using one of his final televised appearances to defend the Conservatives’ record on the economy.

Sunak told the BBC that he believed he’d still be in power by the end of the week, despite opinion polls that have found the Conservatives trailing far behind the opposition Labour Party of Keir Starmer.

“I’m fighting very hard," Sunak said. “And I think people are waking up to the real danger of what a Labour government means.”

While he acknowledged that the last few years “had been difficult for everyone,’’ Sunak declared it was “completely and utterly wrong” to suggest that Britain's place in the world has diminished since Brexit.

“It’s entirely wrong, this kind of declinist narrative that people have of the U.K. I wholeheartedly reject,” he said. “It (the U.K.) is a better place to live than it was in 2010.’’

After 14 years of Conservative-led governments, many voters blame the party for Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, long waiting lists for health care, high levels of immigration and the dislocations caused by Britain's departure from the European Union.

Sunak, who became prime minister in October 2022, has tried to silence his critics by arguing that his policies have begun to solve those problems and warning that Starmer, the Labour leader, would raise taxes if his party wins the election.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with local children during a visit to a bakery in Golders Green, while on the general election campaign trail, in north west London, Sunday June 30, 2024. (James Manning/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with local children during a visit to a bakery in Golders Green, while on the general election campaign trail, in north west London, Sunday June 30, 2024. (James Manning/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with local children during a visit to a bakery in Golders Green, while on the general election campaign trail, in north west London, Sunday June 30, 2024. (James Manning/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks on during a visit to Machzike Hadath Synagogue, in Golders Green, while on the general election campaign trail, in north west London, Sunday June 30, 2024. (James Manning/Pool Photo via AP)