Beautiful New Zealand is one of the most picturesque and cleanest countries in the world, home to the unique Maori people. These aborigines are the oldest inhabitants of their flourishing land and have many curious traditions, one of which is the original greeting.
Maori greetings to New Zealand
It is customary for Maori to greet each other with a touch of their noses. Such a greeting is a symbolic act of addressing the so-called breath of life, which goes directly back to the ancient New Zealand gods. In addition, the natives greet each other with protruding tongues and bulging eyes, slapping their thighs with their palms, bending their knees and stamping their feet.
The Maori greeting ritual is designed to recognize the stranger, as only the indigenous people of New Zealand can understand it.
Officially, this ceremony is called "pofiri" - a person who has passed this ceremony receives the status of "tangata venua" (man of the earth). The touching of noses and pressing the foreheads symbolizes the breathing divided into two, and also has a mystical background - with close contact, the Maori evaluate the third eye of the person they greet with the help of their "third eye". Thus, they distinguish between good people and people with unfriendly intentions - the Maori had to learn this over the long years of their existence.
Greetings history
The Maori greeting has evolved over hundreds of years. The ancient Maori used it to evaluate strangers - when strangers came to their villages, the aborigines sent them to meet their strongest warrior, who showed the intruders his unsurpassed combat prowess from a distance, while simultaneously examining their faces in order to unravel the intent with which they were granted. After that, the warrior returned to his own and reported everything that he could see and understand about the strangers who came.
In fact, the phiri is a specific strategy that the Maori used to protect their lands from invaders.
The modern ceremony of greeting the Maori is more peaceful - but the guests of the people should certainly choose their own leader for pofiri, who will "rub his nose" with the Maori leader. After this ordeal, guests will be greeted by Maori women singing beautiful traditional chants, and then everyone relaxes, socializes and eats local delicacies. True Maori greetings are always on a purely personal level - guests are greeted with all due honors, introduced to local New Zealand culture and given a warm spiritual welcome - this is the essence of true pofiri.
