RangiÃÂnehu MÃÂtÃÂmua is a New Zealand indigenous studies and MÃÂori cultural astronomy academic and is Professor of MÃÂtauranga MÃÂori at Massey University. He is the first MÃÂori person to win a Prime Minister's Science Prize, is a fellow of the Royal Society Te ApÃÂrangi, and is the chief advisor to the New Zealand Government on the public holiday Matariki. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2023.
MÃÂtÃÂmua was educated at Hato Paora College.
MÃÂtÃÂmua wrote his MA thesis on traditional Tà «hoe weaponry. His 2006 PhD at Massey University was titled Te Reo PÃÂho: MÃÂori radio and language revitalisation. MÃÂtÃÂmua moved to the University of Waikato, rising to full professor of MÃÂori and Indigenous Studies. On 1 September 2021 he became Professor of MÃÂtauranga MÃÂori at Massey University's Te Pà «tahi-a-Toi School of MÃÂori Knowledge.
MÃÂtÃÂmua's career in traditional MÃÂori astronomy began in 1995 when, as a university undergraduate, he asked his grandfather Jim Moses (Timi RÃÂwiri MÃÂtÃÂmua) about Matariki, the MÃÂori New Year heralded by the rising of the Pleiades at dawn. Timi RÃÂwiri produced from a cupboard a 400-page manuscript written in Te Reo MÃÂori. The manuscript had been written over many years in the 19th century by Timi RÃÂwiri's grandfather RÃÂwiri Te Kà Âkau and father Te Kà Âkau Himiona Te Pikikà Âtuku, who was a tohunga of Tà «hoe and NgÃÂti Pikiao. It was an astronomical record containing the names of 1000 stars and 103 constellations, as well as instructions for setting up a traditional house of astronomical learning or whare kà Âkà Ârangi. Timi RÃÂwiri told MÃÂtÃÂmua to share the knowledge it contained: "Knowledge hidden, he said, wasn't knowledge at all."
MÃÂtÃÂmua has since written widely on Matariki, identifying the nine stars that MÃÂori perceived in the cluster, in contrast to the seven associated with the Pleiades in European tradition. His research has revealed that some of the MÃÂori astronomical lore recorded by ethnographer Elsdon Best is slated or incorrectly translated. The translation of the word Matariki to mean "little eyes" is one such error; the name in fact is derived from NgÃÂ mata o te ariki o TÃÂwhirimÃÂtea, the eyes of TÃÂwhirimÃÂtea, god of the winds. He has pointed out that the Matariki is often celebrated too early, when it is still below the horizon, as a result of a mismatch between the Gregorian solar calendar and the MÃÂori lunar/stellar calendar, where the dates for Matariki change every year.
MÃÂtÃÂmua has been critical of the way Western scientific astronomy has ignored or belittled traditional MÃÂori knowledge. He intends to establish a MÃÂori observatory, based on a traditional observatory but incorporating modern knowledge and technology.
MÃÂtÃÂmua chairs the Matariki Advisory Group which has provided advice to the Government on the formation of New Zealand's newest public holiday, Matariki, which was first celebrated on Friday 24 June 2022. In October 2022 he was appointed to the newly-created position as chief advisor to the Government on Matariki.
MÃÂtÃÂmua regularly posts videos and podcasts on MÃÂori astronomy in both English and Te Reo MÃÂori, and has a large social media following: his Living by the Stars Facebook posts have over 20,000 followers, and his web series accumulated over one million views in four months. In 2019 he gave 21 presentations to a total audience of over 10,000 in New Zealand and Australia.
On 30 June 2020 MÃÂtÃÂmua was awarded the 2019 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize for his work writing and speaking about MÃÂori astronomy and Matariki. He is the first MÃÂori scientist to be awarded the prize. He also won the 2020 Callaghan Medal for his work engaging the public at the boundary between science and traditional MÃÂori knowledge. In March 2021, MÃÂtÃÂmua was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society Te ApÃÂrangi, in recognition that his work "has revolutionised understandings of MÃÂori astronomy, and in particular Matariki".
In the 2023 New Year Honours, MÃÂtÃÂmua was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to MÃÂori astronomy.
MÃÂtÃÂmua was named New Zealander of the Year in the 2023 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year awards.
In December 2023, he received an honorary doctorate of literature from Te Herenga WakaâÂÂVictoria University of Wellington.