A traditional Māori star compass built to teach the next generation how to read the skies and live by the stars has been unveiled at a Ngāti Rangi kura in Ohakune.
By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporter
The whana tongitongi Te Tatau o Rongonui, a traditional star compass or kāpehu whetū used across Polynesia as a forecasting and navigation tool, was opened at dawn on Thursday at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Rangi.
The project was led by Ngāti Rangi celestial researchers Riwaru Tihema and Rauroha Brown and designed according to traditional Ngāti Rangi narratives and astronomical knowledge.
“To be honest, I’m absolutely overwhelmed,” Brown said after the dawn ceremony.
“We built this kāpehu whetū, this whana tongitongi, at the kura so we could teach the next generation of astronomers. It creates another inside-outside classroom environment and why not be out in the elements, in the taiao?”
The whana tongitongi is a replica of ancient open-air star compasses still found in Tahiti and Hawai’i.
“The majority of their compasses are primarily rock and stone, built in the shape of a square or diamond. You can easily put the cardinal points on each corner.”
Pou (posts) will be erected around the new whana tongitongi, aligning with geographical and celestial markers. The structure measures seasonal time using the rising and setting of stars, the moon and the sun.
Brown said the star compass was both a time marker and a forecasting tool that would help whānau reconnect with environmental knowledge and traditional food-gathering practices.
“The reason you would establish one of these whana tongitongi is they’re pretty much like a GPS, a phone or a usb [drive] – a memory holder and resource for delivering information, telling you when to plant, when to hunt. Like a how-to-sustain-your-life app.
“You just have to know how to read it. Once you understand it you can start applying it to your gardening and your hunting and fishing, because it will tell you the optimum time to gather or harvest.”
Tihema and Brown are part of a collective of researchers from Taranaki, Whanganui and Rangitīkei, gathering traditional knowledge linked to Puanga, the star marking the Māori new year.
Helen Leahy, pou ārahi/chief executive of Ngā Waihua o Paerangi, said Tihema first proposed building the star compass in 2022, with work beginning the following year.
The project involved cross-referencing manuscripts and kōrero with Ngāti Rangi kaumātua and stakeholders to design a star compass grounded in kōrero tuku iho.
“The intention was for whānau to learn and live by the stars - learning about ceremonies, tuna heke, timings around maara kai, bird and fish migration, moon phases and the age-old practice of looking to the environment for education,” Leahy said.
“They wanted to teach whānau the skills required to read, understand, implement and uphold traditional passing of knowledge from generation to generation; to maintain balance in a way that promotes wellness.”
Brown said ancient open-air astronomical observatories exist throughout Aotearoa, including several in the Waimarino and Waiouru districts. Their locations and functions were not common knowledge.
Like the Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu and Stonehenge, they reflected sophisticated astronomical observation systems that guided agriculture, seasonal planning and spiritual life.
“It is the same universal concept,” Brown said.
One nearby site on the outskirts of Ohakune contains large stone alignments and astronomical structures, including a water mirror – a stone basin that is filled with water to act as a reflecting telescope.
“The teachings from there, we’ve incorporated into this space here at our kura. It is a similar design – and now we’re passing the mātauranga over to our tamariki,” Brown said.
Kura tumuaki (principal) Pikimai Ouknider said the opening marked the beginning of sharing years of research directly with students.
“Te Kura Kaupapa Māori, being a puna mātauranga (well of knowledge) for Ngāti Rangi, is a beautiful thing where everyone is able to connect to kōrero tuku iho, taonga tuku iho.
“Having the whana tongitongi Te Tatau o Rongonui actually in the kura has taken the level of mātauranga up a notch."
Ouknider said passing knowledge from parents to children was “succession in the making”.
“Now is an appropriate time to bring forth all that tuku ihotanga. It's so valuable, not just for our tamariki but the future wealth of Ngāti Rangi itself.
“We’re ready. Our kids are ready. They're born into this wānanga. All we have to do is awaken it inside them.”
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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