Hongi greeting

Hongi New Zealand

The hongi is the Maori welcome expressed by the rubbing or touching of noses, something akin to the Western custom of kissing someone by way of greeting.
The literal meaning of “hongi” is the “sharing of breath.”It is still used at traditional meetings among members of the Maori people at major ceremonies, and on the Marae.

Through the exchange of this physical greeting, you are no longer considered a visitor or manuhiri, but rather tangata whenua, or one of the people of the land. For the remainder of your stay you are obliged to share in all the duties and responsibilities of the home people. In earlier times, this may have meant bearing arms in times of war, or tending crops of kumara.

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