for Matariki's hautapu ceremony
Hautapu is a name recently rediscovered in Waikato for an old Matariki ceremony involving feeding the constellation’s whetū (stars) with steam (hautapu) from an oven.
It’s a term Matariki expert and astronomer Dr Rangi Mātāmua has acknowledged was revived at Rāwhitiroa Marae in the Wharepuhunga rohe, south of Te Awamutu, by the Ngāti Takihiku hapū.
The hapū’s Paraone Gloyne – a Ngāti Raukawa te reo and tikanga expert also recognised nationally as a rangatira in kapa haka – said it was a term rediscovered about six years ago.
An old kauta (cookhouse) built in the 1800s, which had belonged to a tupuna (ancestor) Marerahi, is based at Rāwhiritoa. Marerahi had bought up a first cousin to Gloyne’s grandfather.
Link to article: New head of steam keeps rising for Matariki's hautapu ceremony | Stuff.co.nz
