New Zealand

'Raw emotion': Whanau's powerful haka for their granddad's birthday goes viral

"The amount of mana is stunning."

Mana was on display at a koro's birthday party as his whanau got involved with a hearty haka.

Posted to TikTok by Latasha Takimoana, the family's celebration for their grandfather has gone viral, attracting over 800 thousand views and more than 100k likes. It shows the tamariki performing a powerful haka as the man of the hour stands opposite and watches proudly.

"Raw emotions as they dedicate this haka to their grandfather, Papa Richie," the caption reads.

Commenters are pointing out that the grandfather must be feeling all the heart-warming feelings there are.

"I can just imagine how proud and loved he feels," wrote one person.

"Gave me goosebumps!" said another.

"The amount of mana is stunning," a third added.

"Love how they are so proud to dedicate this to him and how he is so proud and to watch them," one more wrote.

This isn't the first time this whanau has gone viral. Last year Latiyah, the daughter in the black dress in the middle row of the haka, racked up over ten million views with her beautiful Maori waiata.

Latiyah's amazing voice and expressive kapa haka dance moves were accompanied by her father's guitar playing behind her. The end result was something magical.

Staying on the family waiata vibe, back in 2022 a mother managed to capture an awesome jam session between father and daughter as they sang 'Tiaho Mai Ra' together before bedtime.

They too went viral, with their incredible voices and harmonies gaining over 400 thousand views and 100 thousand likes.

Seeing all these families coming together by embracing their culture is truly heartwarming and makes me damn proud to be a Kiwi.