These are my 2 Matariki activities that I did in literacy. I thought that the hunting one was the best because it has lots of describing words and it was fun to write. I think that in the poem I could have done some more words that linked to the stars but that was all I could think of. I enjoyed it because it was fun to learn about the stars and the way that the Maori people hunted.
Hunting Story
The morning sun was casting shadows on the ground making patterns of light on the murky brown leaves. I keep walking through the forest, listening to the sound of the birds chirping and the sticks breaking under my heavy footsteps. I am making my way towards the stream that lies just beyond the forest. Eels would use it as a breeding ground so it was a great place to hunt them.
I get to the stream and lay my bags down by the old mossy rocks. The sound of the stream is like a tap running loudly into the sink. I grab the bucket from my bag and crouch silently beside the glassy water. Sleek, black eels swim by, as I lean over ready to hook the eel. SPLASH, I force my chalky, bone hook into the water. The hook pierces through the silky, slimy skin, latching in like a pickax in a rock face. The eel struggles and squirms, blood seeps out of the wound, the eel falls limp. I gently place it in the bucket and slowly make my way back to my whanau at home taking my kai with me.
Matariki Poem
Matariki
Shows you the paths of being healthy and strong in you mind
Helps you know the you you can be
And is a Mother to all
Tupu-a-nuku
She looks after you with nutrients
She makes sure your well fed
Tupu-a-rangi
Keeps the sky foods ready for us to harvest
And gives the berries life to grow
Pohutukawa
Reaches out to your loved ones that have gone
Will meet you after your last breath
Hiwa iti rangi
The promise of a proposes season awaits
Bringing vegetables for the whanau
Wai-puna-rangi
Lets the rain fall without sound
Letting Ranginui release his tears
Waiti
Takes care of the fresh waters that run
Through Aotearoa
Waita
Keeps our oceans clean from the rubbish
And takes care of the animals
Ururangi
Lets the winds of the sky roam free
Carrying the seeds of trees