A couple doing a nose rub

A kunik,[1] also known as an Eskimo kiss, nose kiss, or nose rub, is the original term in Inuit languages for the act of pressing or rubbing the tip of one's nose against another's cheek. In non-Inuit culture, people understand this to be the act of rubbing noses together. The kunik version of the nose-kiss is found in other cultures.

History

When early Western explorers of the Arctic first witnessed Inuit nose rubbing as a greeting behavior, they dubbed it Eskimo kissing, despite the practice's prevalence in nearby non-Inuit cultures. This was used as an intimate greeting by the Inuit who, when they meet outside, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed.

In Inuit culture

An Iñupiat woman shares a kunik with a small child at a Nalukataq in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, 2007

Among the Inuit, kunik is a form of expressing affection,[1] usually between family members and loved ones or to young children,[2] that involves pressing the nose and upper lip against the skin (commonly of the cheeks or forehead) and breathing in, causing the loved one's skin or hair to be suctioned against the nose and upper lip.[3] A common misconception is that the practice arose so that Inuit could kiss without their mouths freezing together. Rather, it is a non-erotic but intimate greeting used by people who, when they meet outside, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed.

The greeting was described in reports of Kerlungner and Wearner, part of a group of Alaskan Native people touring the United States with entrepreneur Miner W. Bruce in the 1890s: "Mr. Bruce yesterday instructed Kerlungner and Wearner that in this country they should not rub noses, and to close the lesson the two young women kissed each other in the new style for a beginning, both seeming to fear that they looked silly as they did it."[4]

In other cultures

Image of two people "nose rubbing" in Mark Twain's "Following the Equator" 1897 travelogue

Other peoples use similar greeting practices, notably the Māori of New Zealand and Hawaiians, who practice the hongi and honi greetings, respectively. Mongolian nomads of the Gobi Desert have a similar practice, as do certain Southeast Asian cultures, such as Bengalis, Khmer people, Lao people, Thai people, Vietnamese people, Timor, Savu people, Sumba people[5] and Iban people. Nose kissing is also employed as a traditional greeting by Arab tribesmen when greeting members of the same tribe. It is also popular in Arabian tribes in southern part of Iran, such as the Bushehr Province.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Elder, Jeff (2005-02-16). "An 'Eskimo kiss' is a kunik, and maybe not what you think". South Coast Today. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  2. ↑ Doucleff, Michaeleen; Greenhalgh, Jane (2019-03-13). "How Inuit Parents Teach Kids To Control Their Anger". NPR. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  3. ↑ "Eskimo Kisses, Arm Hair, Moon Flags & Spike Lee vs. Stan Lee vs. Bruce Lee". Esquire Magazine. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  4. ↑ "All Eager to See the Eskimo". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. September 21, 1895. p. 7. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Sumba: Keeping a vow -- blessings, curse and sweet potatoes". 2006-02-05. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2013-09-13., The Jakarta Post
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