A three year old Māori boy has gone viral for leading his whānau in a karakia.
Māmā Jaimee shared a video of her son Rūai standing with a full plate ready to eat tea, but not before saying a karakia.
“POV: When you are 3yo, your first language is te reo Māori and you’ve been doing karakia kai since you could talk because your pāpā reclaimed his reo for his whakapapa," Jaimee captioned the clip.
He completed the blessing without missing a word and the rest of the whānau commended the wee Rūai on his Reo.
People commenting also shared proud feelings, with one writing: “Amene 🥰.”
“This was so beautiful I cried,” said another. “Well done whānau your babies will be strong and stand tall in the Pakeha and Māori world, just beautiful!”
A third agreed: “Wow, that’s the coolest prayer 🙏 I’ve ever heard. Māori culture looks so strong for the future of Aotearoa. Never stop teaching our tamariki mā.”
“Sooo cute, the confidence and conviction of this lil man 🥹🥰,” said a fourth. “Kia Kaha Kia Tina beautiful family ❤️🔥.”
As Jaimee shared, her baby has been using Te Reo since he first began to talk, and they've been posting their 'kupu o te rā' series, sharing Māori words of the day, since March 2023.
At just two years old, still in a pram, Rūai was correctly identifying colours and objects. He’s come a very long way to now being able to fluently kōrerorero with his whānau.
It’s amazing how clever the little minds of our tamariki are, and Rūai is just one example of a strong future for Te Reo.
