Maramataka | Calendar

The Maramataka (moon turning) is a Māori indigenous framework and knowledge framework to mark time, based on the moon's orbit around the earth. It's used by Māori to observe, monitor and record signs, rhythms and cycles of the taiao (environment) and to direct daily and seasonal activities.

Maramataka guide whānau, hapū and iwi in aligning and regulating their daily activities to support wellbeing. They also help with monitoring seasonal changes. Variations in Maramataka between whānau, hapū and iwi consider the locations and associated landscapes, climate, and environment.

Currently, the Maramataka is modelled on the Gregorian Calendar, which is not the original system of time used by tupuna Māori.

Maramataka 2023/24 | Previous years

Maramataka 2023/24

Supported by Te Whakaminenga o Kāpiti, the Maramataka 2023/24 has been developed in partnership by the Rongoā Collective of the ĀRT Confederation under the guidance of their three pou rongoā Pania Solomon, Sharlene Maoate-Davis and Heimaima Wiremu.

Sharlene shares:

Maramataka 2023/24 celebrates this customary Māori system of time. It features local Rongoā or traditional healing and wellbeing practices and promotes the importance of personal observation taken from the rhythms and signs of the Taiao – nature.

As with the Maramataka 2022/23, the Maramataka 2023/24 continues to lay down an ancestral framework inside the existing one, as a way to bridge two mātauranga (knowledge) groups.

Copies are available for purchase at Kāpiti Coast District Council service centres from Monday 24 July 2023 for $15 each.