Hongi

A U.S. airman and a Māori warrior exchange a hongi during a pōwhiri ceremony

The traditional Māori greeting, the Hongi is done by pressing one's nose and forehead, at the same time, to another encounter. It is used at traditional meetings among Māori people and on major ceremonies and serves a similar purpose to a formal handshake. In the hongi, the ha (or breath of life), is exchanged.^[1] The breath of life can also be interpreted as the sharing of both people’s souls.

Through the exchange of this greeting, one is no longer considered Manuhiri, a visitor, but rather Tangata whenua, one of the people of the land. For the remainder of the stay, one is obliged to share in all the duties and responsibilities of the home people. In earlier times, that may have meant bearing arms in times of war or tending crops, such as kumara.

When Māori greet one another by pressing noses, the tradition of sharing the breath of life is considered to have come directly from the gods. In Māori mythology, woman was created by the Gods moulding her shape out of the earth. The god Tane embraced the figure and breathed into her nostrils. She then sneezed and came to life, creating the first woman in Māori legends, Hineahuone.^[2]

Examples

• Performed by Hillary Clinton by a 4 November 2010 visit to Wellington^[3]
• Performed by Ambassador of Turkey Ali Yakıtal^[4]
• Performed by Prince William and Sir Paul Reeves^[5]

See also

• Eskimo kissing, a similar gesture

References