Dad performs traditional Māori Haka to greet their son at the airport, which leaves everyone in tears.
Each week there are viral videos from airports and airplanes, but most of the time, they are of people yelling or fighting with flight attendants or other passengers. Although, this viral video shows a different side as a dad performed a Māori Haka, a traditional ceremonial performance, to greet his son at the airport. The special moment left everyone in the terminal tearing up!
For the Māori Haka, it is a ceremonial dance that involves chanting, foot stomping, and some pretty awesome choreography. While it used to be associated with battle preparations, the Haka was also performed for other heartwarming purposes, like welcoming honored guests.
The video was shared on Reddit, and one Māori dad did Haka to surprised his son at the airport. The son was returning from a trip and was probably expecting his father to pick him up from the airport, but he looked shocked to see his dad welcome him back in such an emotional way. It wasn’t only the son who was moved by the dad’s performance, as other people in the airport stopped to watch the performance and could be seen tearing up also.
In the video, you can see the dad looking at his son leaving the plane. The dad began his surprise while standing in the middle of the terminal. It starts slowly, as the dad is rhythmically slapping his thighs. It starts to speed up, as the dad begins to chant.
The son is watching respectfully, as he never stopped watching his dad dance. As the dad continued to dance, other airport visitors started to notice what was happening and would also stop to watch.
The man continued to dance as the energy started to build. He was pouring his whole heart into it when the dance ended, and he fell silent. That is when the terminal erupted in cheers and applause. That is when the son walked towards him and clasped his hand. Both were overcome with emotion as they hugged each other.
The video’s poster features, “There was not a dry eye in the house,” which the commenters on Reddit agreed as they loved the performance.
There are many ways to greet your loved ones at the airport, but this dad may have topped them all with this Haka.
