Fresh horizons

A new doco led by ‘Mr Matariki’ explores Antarctica through a mātauranga Māori lens.

- BY RUSSELL BAILLIE

You would think that Professor Rangi Mātāmua might be used to the cold by now.

After all, the Māori cultural astronomer, who says he cringes a little when he’s described as “Mr Matariki” for being the architect of Aotearoa’s midyear celestial celebration, has spent plenty of winter evenings gazing up at the stars.

But a few weeks after last year’s Matariki, he found himself on his frostiest night yet. There, he spotted the brightest star, Sirius/Hine Takurua, sitting low on the horizon and not where she was meant to be. The Southern Cross was higher above him than he had ever seen it; his beloved nine stars of Matariki/Pleiades weren’t to be seen. And because it was so very cold – dipping towards -45°C – it was soon time to go back inside Scott Base where he had arrived earlier that day.

There would be other perspective-altering experiences for the rest of his stay. His excursion to New Zealand’s Antarctic Science Platform was meant to be for only 10 days but stretched to nearly a month after storms with 120km/h winds cancelled air force flights in and out.