In Room 14 we have been learning the different stories that tell of the stars of Matariki. We have retold these stories in our own words and presented them on 7 stars, on our class ceiling. Here are two examples;

This is a story of how the 7 stars of Matariki got into the sky. Once, long ago in the moana a māmā fish had 7 baby fish. One day when the 7 ika (fish) were playing in the coral reef their māmā was going out in the wide moana. She said "I'm going out, so don't go out in the wide moana because there is a giant outside the coral reef". But the little fish forgot what she said so they went outside the coral reef and then...there was a shadow! They got caught. Tataraimaka caught the fish. Tane was angry at Tataraimaka so he snatched the fish off him and threw them into the sky. That is how the stars of Matariki got into the sky.

By Bella Doggett

In the beginning, there was Ranginui and Papatūānuku. They never could be torn apart because of their strong love. Ranginui and Papatuanuku had children. They were called Tane Mahuta the god of the forest, Tangaroa the god of the sea, Tāwhirimātea the god of the wind and lastly Tūmatauenga the god of war. The children were unhappy because of the lack of space they had. So they had a plan to separate them. Tāwhirimātea was mad because his brothers did something really bad, of separating their parents. He was so mad that he threw his keys up to the night sky. Those keys are what we now know to be Matariki. 

By Estelle Warahi