Eskimo kissing
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Eskimo kissing is named for the Eskimo greeting of rubbing noses. In its western form it consists of two people rubbing noses together. A common misconception is that the practice arose so that Inuit could kiss without their mouths freezing together. In fact, it is a non-romantic form of greeting that serves the same role as shaking hands for a people who, when they meet, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed.
Similar traits are shown in greetings of other peoples, notably the hongi greeting used by the Māori of New Zealand.
One of the earliest representations of the "Eskimo Kiss" comes from Robert Flaherty's 1922 film Nanook of the North, considered by many to be the first real documentary or ethnographic film. It is possibly from this source, that the non-Inuit/Eskimo public became aware of this convention. Scenes involving Eskimo kissing are included in episodes of The Simpsons as well as a Chapelle's Show sketch in which Eskimo kissing is portrayed as a stereotypically white gesture. The Eskimo kiss was also featured as one of the pivotal concepts in the TV series Noozles, wherein it is the action that revives a Koala from what is known as magic sleepytime.
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