Matariki Facts:

Here is all the Matariki facts that I have collected off the internet then put into my own words:

This is the Māori Matariki Myths:

 1.  Matariki is known as the Māori name for the clusters of stars known as Pleiades.

2.  Matariki means the ‘eyes of gods’ or ‘little eyes’.

3.  Matariki rises in mid winter, late May or early June, for many Māori it heralds the start of a new year.

4.  Matariki, or Māori new year celebrations were once popular but stopped in the 1940’s

5.  This year Matariki was on the 6th of June

This is the Greek myth about the seven sisters:

6.  Atlas and Pleione have seven sisters Maia (eldest), Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope (aka Asterope), Merope (youngest),

7.  The seven sisters were fancied by the great hunter Orion. He persuaded them for seven years, until Zeus saved them transforming the seven sisters into doves,placing them among the stars in the sky while Orion continues to pursue them for eternity.