Maori are not hongiing because of Covid-19 but are unlikely to give it up for good

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says Maori should permanently stop using it.

He was defending the limit of 10 people attending funerals and tangi and says Covid-19 is a lesson cultures need to adapt or die.

Former politician Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says the hongi is especially important for older people.

She says her late husband would have never thought about going up to any older person and not hongiing with them.

Raukawa-Tait says it's what they know and believe in, and won't go away anytime soon.