Story: Māori manners and social behaviour – Ngā mahi tika

Pōwhiri, 1998

Pōwhiri, 1998

With a haka and chanting, this group of men and women is giving a pōwhiri (formal welcome) to New Zealand veterans of the Vietnam War in 1998. The woman in the foreground is brandishing a taiaha (traditional weapon) and she and other women in the welcome party have adorned themselves with green leaves as a sign of mourning for the dead. Increasingly, pōwhiri are held outside the setting of a marae, and this one is taking place on Wellington's waterfront. 

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference: EP/1998/1595/3-F
Photograph by John Nicholson

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Mark Derby, 'Māori manners and social behaviour – Ngā mahi tika - Welcome and hospitality', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/41177/powhiri-1998 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Mark Derby, published 5 Sep 2013