Video of Graduation Haka Goes Viral

The mother of a teenager whose video of a celebratory haka has gone viral, says she’s overwhelmed by the response. 

Irene Moses graduated from Toi Ohomai with a Bachelor of Social Work. She joined hundreds of other graduates at a ceremony at Tangatarua Marae, based at the Toi Ohomai Rotorua Campus. 

A video of her son performing a haka to celebrate his mother has gone viral online garnering more than 4.5 million views on social media site Tiktok. 

The marae graduation was the first in several years, with many being cancelled due to Covid. 

Irene says her degree was the culmination of four long, hard years of study in which her whānau missed out on her full attention. 

“I’m in my 40s and I gave up my full-time job to study. I had to make everything work. Lockdown and online learning were really hard but I knew social work was a career I wanted and was hungry for.” 

She says finishing her degree was overwhelming and didn’t quite feel final until her graduation ceremony. 

“When we were given the option of which location we wanted to have our ceremony, it was a no brainer to go to Tangatarua. I was able to bring my whole whānau, who missed out on their mum for four years. It was also a way for us to celebrate our culture and our identity.”

She says the day was amazing and the impromptu haka performed by her son, Tawhiri, was the icing on the cake. 

“It was a surprise as he said he wasn’t going to do one, but it also wasn’t, because that is the sort of thing he does. I loved it, I can see the emotion and you can see the pride in him. It’s such a good feeling to know my kids are proud of me. 

“There were so many haka and beautiful waiata that day and I think he just got caught up in the moment and it felt right.” 

When Tawhiri got up to perform his haka members of another whānau quickly jumped up in support and joined in. 

“I want to give a big shout out to that whānau. It was so amazing. As a Kiwi, it’s just what we do. We see someone who needs tautoko and we get up and we do it.” 

She says she’s been blown away by the response the video has received online.

“It’s been a great way to showcase our culture and I love that everyone has positive things to say about it.”  

You can watch the video here.