Mass haka. Source: Te Ao Māori News
Hundreds turned out for a mass haka in Christchurch yesterday evening to show their support for the victims of the terrorist attack.
Nuha Asa'd, who lost her husband Ali in the shootings, was there and said, for a moment, it helped her forget her sadness.
“It’s like a festival. Thanks so much,” she told Te Ao Māori News reporter Heta Gardiner.
She says her husband felt at home living in New Zealand.
“20 years, he didn’t want to go overseas, just here.”
Around 8pm children, school students and adults stood together and performed Tika Tonu.
People from around the world were in tears watching the haka, including one viewer named Sharon Osbourne, who watched the Facebook live from Australia.
“Goosebumps and tears for all my fellow kiwis and everyone’s hearts involved. Much love from Perth,” Osborne wrote in a comment on the video.
Another Facebook user Charles Smith also wrote, “Moments like this make me even more proud to be a Māori.”
For more on this story, watch Te Ao Māori News on Māori Television at 6.30pm today.