Muah 3

A kiss on nose-

An Eskimo kiss, nose kiss, or nose rub is a gesture of affection where one rubs the tip of one's nose against another person's face. In Inuit culture, the gesture is known as a kunik, and consists of pressing or rubbing the tip of one's nose against another's cheek.

In non-Inuit English-speaking culture, two people Eskimo kiss by rubbing the tips of their noses together. Nose-to-cheek kisses are found in other cultures as well.

When early Western explorers of the Arctic first witnessed Inuit nose rubbing as a greeting behavior, they dubbed it Eskimo kissing. The practice was also prevalent in nearby non-Inuit cultures.

Among the Inuit, kunik is a form of expressing affection, usually between family members and loved ones or to young children, that involves pressing the nose and upper lip against the skin (commonly of the cheeks or forehead) and breathing in, causing the loved one's skin or hair to be suctioned against the nose and upper lip. A common misconception is that the practice arose so that Inuit could kiss without their mouths freezing together. Rather, it is a non-erotic but intimate greeting used by people who, when they meet outside, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed.[citation needed]

The greeting was described in reports of Kerlungner and Wearner, part of a group of Alaskan Native people touring the United States with entrepreneur Miner W. Bruce in the 1890s: "Mr. Bruce yesterday instructed Kerlungner and Wearner that in this country they should not rub noses, and to close the lesson the two young women kissed each other in the new style for a beginning, both seeming to fear that they looked silly as they did it."

Other peoples use similar greeting practices, notably the Māori of New Zealand and Hawaiians, who practice the hongi and honi greetings, respectively. Mongolian nomads of the Gobi Desert have a similar practice, as do certain Southeast Asian cultures, such as the Bengalis, Khmer people, Lao people, Thai people, Vietnamese people, Timor, Savu people, Sumba people and Iban people. Nose kissing is also employed as a traditional greeting by Arab tribesmen when greeting members of the same tribe.

The hongi is a traditional Māori greeting performed by two people pressing their noses together, often including the touching of the 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, manuhiri, visitors, blend with tangata whenua, the people of the land, and establish a connection.

A rāhui (temporary ban) was placed on the use of the hongi by some iwi and rūnanga (tribes and tribal councils) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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