The traditional Māori ceremony formally welcoming visitors onto a marae is a pōwhiri.
A pōwhiri is a formal Māori welcome conducted on a marae, the communal meeting ground and buildings of a Māori community. It guides visitors, or manuhiri, and hosts, or tangata whenua, through a structured process of encounter, speech, song, and relationship-building.
A pōwhiri can include a call of welcome, speeches, songs, the exchange of gifts, and the hongi, in which participants press noses and foreheads. The exact sequence varies between iwi, hapū, and occasions. The ceremony establishes peaceful intentions and turns strangers into people connected through shared interaction.
Although pōwhiri is not exclusively a puberty rite, it is a formal threshold ceremony and is often discussed alongside rites that mark transitions in Māori life. It should not be confused with a casual greeting or with tā moko, the traditional practice of tattooing.