Deputy PM hints hongi may never return
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has suggested Ma¯ori ditch the hongi greeting for good to stop the spread of disease.
The hongi is a traditional Ma¯ori greeting in which noses are pressed together. It has been in less active use during the Covid-19 crisis thanks to fear of spreading the disease.
Peters said cultural practices would need to change to adjust to a post-covid-19 world, and openly questioned whether the hongi would ever come back. ‘‘Cultures that don’t adapt, die,’’ Peters said.
He suggested that the high death rate of Ma¯ori in other pandemics was thanks to cultural practices.
Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has said it is up to iwi to decide when to bring the hongi back. Ma¯ori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-packer said a handshake could be just as dangerous as a hongi, and queried why Peters did not bring them up. ‘‘Why is he picking out one culture’s protocol and not the wider practice of handshaking?’’
She said Ma¯ori had selfmanaged well through the crisis and would continue to self-manage as it receded.
‘‘The reality is we are now at a stage where Ma¯ori are saying ‘we want to bring back parts of our tikanga and normalise life’. We are extremely well-versed at adapting and self-managing. We’ve proven our resilience.’’
Ngarewa-packer said Peters was free to determine his own view and what he taught his whanau.
Crown-ma¯ori Relations Minister Kelvin Davis said hongi would always have a place in Ma¯oridom.