Whakapapa and Hongi
The indigenous people of New Zealand are the Maori people, a Polynesian culture with multiple tribes throughout the two main islands. When they meet someone for the first time, they greet by sharing what is called their whakapapa. Essentially this is their ancestry which includes important landforms from their region of origin (i.e. the major mountain and river), the name of their tribal meeting house, their family history, etc. The purpose of this exercise in whakapapa is to determine where strangers have connection so that they are no longer separated by difference but instead highlight the shared common ground.
Once they find their points of ancestral connection, they grasp hands and Hongi. What looks to outsiders like the pressing of noses, holding them together for a moment or two, is in the Maori way of thinking “a sharing of breath.” This deepens and confirms their connection as the breath of each is in the lungs of the other. (Clearly this was a practice established long before the likes of menaces like Covid.)
I love this aspect of Maori culture and wish it would be more universally applied in our own context. What if when we met someone or made a comment about someone we were just as intentional about searching for places or beliefs we share in common rather than focusing on the things that separate and divide? What if we sought to press noses, figuratively, with all of those who cross our path? We then highlight the fact that each of us carries in us the breath of the other. No longer do we see others as strangers but recognize the union we share through the air we all breathe.
The Maori practices described above do not eliminate differences or even suggest that one pretends differences are not there. Rather, they alter the focus, so that even in the midst of misunderstanding or disagreement there remains recognition of permanent connection, as well as the sharing of breath. Maybe Jesus had the Maori culture in mind when he said:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
photo credit: Susan White Siegal/no copyright infringement intended
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Dan Kreiss, RPC’s new Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach, brings with him a heart for service and a diverse array of experiences in the mission field. Be sure to subscribe to the Mission Outreach Blog to read and follow along as he documents his personal journey and shares his vision for RPC’s mission outreach commitment. Along with providing meaningful resources, this blog will help jumpstart the important conversations our church community must be having about missional living.
Dan Kreiss
Rev. Dr. Dan Kreiss is the Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach at RPC. Dan is particularly passionate about encouraging the church to reflect the diversity found in its surrounding community in regard to age, gender, ethnicity, education and economic status.