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Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has suggested that the Maori abandon the hongi salute to stop the spread of the disease.
Hongi is a traditional Maori greeting in which noses are pressed together. It has been in less active use during the Covid-19 crisis due to fear of spreading the diet.
Peters said cultural practices would have to change to adapt to a post-Covid-19 world, and openly questioned whether Hongi would ever return.
“Cultures that don’t adapt die,” Peters said.
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Braden faster / stuff
Winston Peters said that “cultures that do not adapt die.”
He suggested that the high mortality rate of Maori in other pandemics was due to cultural practices.
Director-General for Health Ashley Bloomfield said it’s up to Iwi to decide when to bring the mushroom back.
Maori party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said that a handshake could be as dangerous as a mushroom, and asked why Peters did not mention them.
“Why are you choosing the protocol of a culture and not the broader practice of handshaking?”
She said the Maori had self-managed well during the crisis and would continue to self-manage as they receded.
“The reality is that we are now at a stage where the Maori say ‘we want to recover parts of our tikanga and normalize life.'”
Director-General for Health Ashley Bloomfield said it’s up to Iwi to decide when to bring the mushroom back.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she also thought the decision should be for the Maori.
Crown / Maori Relations Minister Kelvin Davis said Hongi would always have a place in Maoridom.
