New Zealand - Maori Culture - Maori ladies on river bank, Whanganui? Greeting each other with 'Hongi' - Circa 1910 - F. G. R. - Frank Duncan & Co. Ltd - Real Photo Postcard Format #334994 Hongi - The traditional Māori greeting, the hongi is performed by two people pressing their noses together; some include, at the same time, the touching of foreheads. The greeting is used at traditional meetings among Māori people, and at major ceremonies, such as a pōwhiri. It may be followed by a handshake. - In the hongi, the ha (breath of life) is exchanged in a symbolic show of unity. Through the exchange of this greeting, one is no longer considered manuhiri, a visitor, but rather tangata whenua, one of the people of the land. When Māori greet one another by pressing noses, the tradition of sharing the breath of life is considered to have come directly from the gods. In Māori mythology, woman was created by the Gods moulding her shape out of the earth. The god Tāne embraced the figure and breathed into her nostrils. She then sneezed and came to life, creating the first woman in Māori legends, Hineahuone. (source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongi)