Watch: Welshman praised for doing entire citizenship ceremony in Māori

Welshman Iwan Jones has received widespread praise online after conducting his New Zealand citizenship ceremony completely in te reo Māori.

And his partner said he did it because ‘being Welsh he is hesitant to swear allegiance to a king’ and out of respect for the native language of New Zealand.

The clip, posted to TikTok by his American partner Katie, has amassed more than 100,000 views since it was posted last month.

“My partner did his citizenship ceremony in Te Reo!” Katie wrote on TikTok. “I feel like he did excellent.

“Being Welsh, he is hesitant to swear allegiance to a king. So he decided since we have to do it, let’s do it in the true language of New Zealand. His first language is also a minority language under the crown (Cymraeg),” she added.

@kindakiwiish My partner did his citizenship ceremony in Te Reo! I feel like he did excellent 😃 being Welsh, he is hesitant to swear allegiance to a king.. so he decided since we have to do it, he’d do it in the true language of New Zealand. his first language is also a minority language under the crown (cymraeg) #tereomaori #tereo #cymraeg #iawncont #whanau ♬ original sound – Katie

Iwan, who works as firefighter with the fire brigade in Picton – a picturesque town on the north coast of New Zeland’s South Island, was hugely praised for his efforts in the comments below the video.

“THE MAN!!!” wrote one person. “I’m of Māori descent and this makes me want to follow in your partner’s footsteps, to have the privilege to be an NZ citizen.”

“Congratulations on becoming a citizen and also for being an amazing human and embracing our country and culture,” another wrote. “Proud to have you!”

“This takes real bravery to get up in front of others and speak a language that isn’t your native tongue,” another added. “Bro, you da man!!”

“Good on the bloke for getting involved with the culture, and shout out to all the Kiwis spreading the love in the comments, wrote another summing up many people’s thoughts. Way to welcome him to the country!”