There is something quietly extraordinary happening in Aotearoa. Five years ago, on a cold June morning in 2022, people gathered before dawn at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington for a hautapu ceremony most New Zealanders had never witnessed. Matariki was observed as a public holiday for the first time, and it was received positively, broadly, and with something that felt right. Like something long overdue had finally been given its rightful place. I remember watching that first
