A mokopuna's adorable impromptu performance after being gifted a special paiaka is going viral, proving that the future is in good hands.
In the video, posted to TikTok by @raising.rukas, the kid’s grandfather presents the excited child with the custom-made gift. After getting his hands on it, the little one shows off his moves and sheesh, he is a natural with it.
“Our little haka boy now has his own Paiaka so he can come to kapa haka practice with dad,” the caption reads.
Commenters are pointing out how lovely and important the moment is, particularly because it keeps the young one engaged with his heritage.
“Sitting up on taranaki maunga watching this BAWLING my eyes out,” one person wrote. “Thank you for sharing this beautiful moment.”
“This makes me tear up!” said another. “To actively promote and teach our mokopuna activities that being THEM is okay and celebrated and loved is everything.”
“I absolutely love this,” a third added. “This is beautiful I wish my culture had something beautiful like this.”
“So cute!!!” one more wrote. “I loved visiting different kuras ‘cause the kids with their culture so strong made me cry almost every time they performed.”
In another video, the little fella showed off his pukana and you can tell he’s got the 'it' factor because it attracted over seven million views and a million likes - the people love him.
Last year, another mokopuna went viral for leading an incredible haka tautoko at his Koro’s university graduation.
Posted to TikTok by @missykarlene, the video shows the grandfather walking on stage to officially graduate from the University of Waikato. As his Koro gets onto the stage, the young fella leads his whānau in a haka with a powerful voice.
As I said, the future is in good hands.
