New Zealand's youngest MP delivers powerful Maori haka in maiden speech, video goes viral

A video of a 21-year-old MP from New Zealand performing a powerful Maori haka during her maiden parliament speech went viral on social media on Friday.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who became New Zealand's youngest parliamentarian in 170 years, delivered a captivating speech in the parliament as she paid tributes to the indigenous people of New Zealand.

Though the event occurred last month, a video of the parliament session was shared by a user on X on Thursday, gaining massive traction on the social media platform.

In her maiden speech, Maipi-Clarke, who belongs to the Maori tribe—an indigenous people of New Zealand—assured her electorate, saying, "I will die for you ... but I will [also] live for you."

Maipi-Clarke's speech was laced with witty remarks, as she described what made her take a plunge into politics.

"At 21 years old, I can definitely say this was not the plan. I was perfectly fine growing my kūmara and learning maramataka, but this House kept tampering with things they shouldn't be touching, and that's why I left the māra to come here," Maipi-Clarke said.

She was elected in October last year after defeating Nanaia Mahuta, who held the seat since its formation in 2008 and has been an MP since 1996.

"To the tamariki Māori who have been sitting in the back of their classroom their whole life, whakamā, waiting generations longing to learn their native tongue, to the tamariki who haven’t been to their pepeha yet, it is waiting for you with open arms," she said in her speech.

"Never fit in. You are perfect. You are the perfect fit," Maipi-Clarke said.

Though becoming the youngest parliamentarian in New Zealand may not have been part of her career goals, Maipi-Clarke comes from a family that has a long history of political activism.

Her great-great-great-great-grandfather Wiremu Katene was the first Maori minister to the Crown in 1872, while her aunt, Hana Te Hemara, was behind delivering the Māori language petition to the New Zealand Parliament in 1972. In 2018, her grandfather, Taitimu Maipi, was in the spotlight for vandalising a statue of Captain John Hamilton — the namesake of Hamilton city —as a mark of protest against Hamilton's colonial legacy and unjust attitude towards Māori.

(With inputs from agencies)