March 05, 2020
Hongi on hold until virus sorted
Marae in Whanganui a Tara have decided to forego the hongi and hariru until a remedy is found for the Covid 19 coronavirus.
Te Atiawa spokesperson Kura Moeahu says the iwi has received a lot of queries from government agencies about the appropriate protocols at this time.
After a great deal of discussion they took guidance from the old term tauparuru, which means to confine or restrict a practice from some place or time.
"Here in Te Atiawa, following the karanga we actually hongi and hariru first before the whaikorero, and so we thought we need to take into consideration the point of contact. We are not changing it. We are just putting in a temporary mechanism to confine that particular practice until the virus has been contained and when that is done we can reintroduce our full practice of tikanga," he says.
Kura Moeahu says a lot of foreign delegations come through parliament and marae in the area, and one powhiri has already been cancelled because of concern over the welcome tikanga.
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com