The Hongi: A Traditional Greeting Recaptured

Eyes closed, they touch foreheads in the traditional greeting of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand.

Maj. Bill Eberhardt touches noses (Hongi) with a Maori warrior during a Powhiri, or welcoming ceremony, at Christchurch, New Zealand. U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo/Public domain

Eyes closed, they touch nose to nose, forehead to forehead: The two embrace in a traditional greeting peculiar to the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori.

The salutation is known as the “hongi,“ typically thought of by non-Maori as simply the rubbing or pressing of noses, an intermingling, and exchange of breath, the “ha.”