Tapawera’s Matariki hāngī celebration

The Tapawera community has revived Matariki traditions with a free hāngī, a traditional Māori cooking method using heated rocks in a pit oven.

The celebration, and the Māori New Year, mark the appearance of Matariki, a cluster of stars in the winter sky just before dawn, symbolising a time for coming together for reflection, celebration, and planning.

“Matariki is a time to give and come together,” says hāngī organiser, Raewyn Cruttenden.

“Sharing kai brings everyone together, the elderly, young, rich, and poor.”

Raewyn and her husband Daryl have been organising and preparing hāngī’s free of charge throughout the Tapawera community for the past 20 years.

“Last year I thought it would be nice to have a local Matariki hāngī here, so we did our first one. It was nice and it’s great to be able to do the same this Matariki,” Raewyn says.

Hāngī and kai are a central and vital component in the maintenance of tikanga (Māori cultural customs and practices) and Raewyn says that the free hāngī is only possible due to the community’s support.

“The community is magnificent; everything is kindly donated, even the Mānuka, which is the only wood my husband will use, and the hāngī crew who volunteer,” Raewyn explains.

Shane Green was one of the hāngī crew volunteers. He learned the hāngī process with his Grandad and really enjoys being involved in community hāngīs.

“Together, we dug the hole the night beforehand, then on the day we were there at 4am to light the hāngī fire and get it going,” Shane says.

“How a hāngī turns out depends on the weather, the food, and the type of wood and iron you’re using. Ours turned out perfectly and it was a great day.”

Over 325 hāngī meals were served with many locals commenting on the delicious tender meat and vegetables, infused with smoky, earthy flavours.

“We had magnificent weather, we love doing it and were really pleased with how the day went,” Raewyn says.

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