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A dedication to the deceased

Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) is a two day holiday that reunites the living and dead. Families create ofrendas (Offerings) to honor their departed family members that have passed. These altars are decorated with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favorite foods and drinks of the one being honored. The offerings are believed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as the departed souls hear their prayers, smell their foods and join in the celebrations!

Day of the Dead is a rare holiday for celebrating death and life. It is unlike any holiday where mourning is exchanged for celebration.

"Day of the Dead is a holiday to remember loved ones by sharing a meal with them as one would when they were alive."

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Day of the Dead is a celebratory holiday to remember the dead. Explore the vibrant traditions, tasty dishes, and everything that brings this day to life!

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Haka is a traditional genre of Māori dance. This painting dates from c. 1845.

Haka (, ; singular haka, in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. Haka are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed by both men and women for a variety of social functions within Māori culture. They are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions, or funerals.

Kapa haka groups are common in schools. The main Māori performing arts competition, Te Matatini, takes place every two years.

New Zealand sports teams' practice of performing a haka to challenge opponents before international matches has made the dance form more widely known around the world. This tradition began with the 1888-89 New Zealand Native football team tour and has been carried on by the New Zealand rugby union team (known as the All Blacks) since 1905. Although popularly associated with the traditional battle preparations of male warriors, conceptions that haka are generally war dances, and the non-accurate performance of haka by non-Māori, are considered erroneous and sometimes offensive by Māori scholars.

The group of people performing a haka is referred to as a ( kapa meaning group or team, and also rank or row). The Māori word haka has cognates in other Polynesian languages, for example: Samoan saʻa ( saʻasaʻa), Tokelauan haka, Rarotongan ʻaka, Hawaiian haʻa, Marquesan haka, meaning 'to be short-legged' or 'dance'; all from Proto-Polynesian saka, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian sakaŋ, meaning 'bowlegged'.

When performed by men,[16] haka feature protruding of the tongue.

According to Māori scholar Tīmoti Kāretu, haka have been "erroneously defined by generations of uninformed as 'war dances'", while Māori mythology places haka as a dance "about the celebration of life". Following a creation story, the sun god, Tama-nui-te-rā, had two wives, the Summer Maid, Hine-raumati, and the Winter Maid, Hine-takurua. Haka originated in the coming of Hine-raumati, whose presence on still, hot days was revealed in a quivering appearance in the air. This was haka of Tāne-rore, the son of Hine-raumati and Tama-nui-te-rā. Hyland comments that "[t]he haka is (and also represents) a natural phenomena [sic]; on hot summer days, the 'shimmering' atmospheric distortion of air emanating from the ground is personified as 'Te Haka a Tānerore'".

Jackson and Hokowhitu state, "haka is the generic name for all types of dance or ceremonial performance that involve movement." The various types of haka include whakatū waewae, tūtū ngārahu and peruperu. The tūtū ngārahu involves jumping from side to side, while in the whakatū waewae no jumping occurs. Another kind of haka performed without weapons is the ngeri, the purpose of which was to motivate a warrior psychologically. The movements are very free, and each performer is expected to be expressive of their feelings. Manawa wera haka were generally associated with funerals (tangihanga) or other occasions involving death. Like the ngeri they were performed without weapons, and there was little or no choreographed movement.

War haka () were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. Various actions are employed in the course of a performance, including facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes (), and poking out the tongue (, performed by men only), and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stomping of the feet. As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts are used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion.

19th-century illustration of a haka, c. 1890

The earliest Europeans to witness haka described them as being "vigorous" and "ferocious". Joseph Banks, who accompanied James Cook on his first voyage to New Zealand in 1769, later recorded:

"The War Song and dance consists of Various contortions of the limbs during which the tongue is frequently thrust out incredibly far and the orbits of the eyes enlarged so much that a circle of white is distinctly seen round the Iris: in short nothing is omitted which can render a human shape frightful and deformed, which I suppose they think terrible."

From their arrival in the early 19th century, Christian missionaries tried unsuccessfully to eradicate haka, along with other forms of Māori culture that they saw as conflicting with Christian beliefs and practice. Henry Williams, the leader of the Church Missionary Society mission in New Zealand, aimed to replace haka and traditional Māori chants () with hymns. Missionaries also encouraged European harmonic singing as part of the process of conversion.

The use of haka in welcoming ceremonies for members of British royal family helped to improve its standing among Europeans. Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, was the first royal to visit New Zealand, in 1869. Upon the Duke's arrival at the wharf in Wellington, he was greeted by a vigorous haka. The Wellington Independent reported, "The excitement of the Maoris becomes uncontrollable. They gesticulate, they dance, they throw their weapons wildly in the air, while they yell like fiends let loose. But all this fierce yelling is of the most friendly character. They are bidding the Duke welcome."

A group of men and women perform a haka for Governor Lord Ranfurly at Ruatoki, Bay of Plenty, 1904

In modern times, various haka have been composed to be performed by women and even children. In some haka the men start the performance and women join in later. Haka are performed for various reasons: for welcoming distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions or funerals.

The 1888-89 New Zealand Native football team began a tradition by performing haka during an international tour. The common use of haka by the national rugby union team before matches, beginning with The Original All Blacks in 1905, has made one type of haka familiar.

Māori Battalion haka in Egypt, 1941

Some events have caused protests. The 1979 annual "haka party" parade at the University of Auckland - in which engineering students persisted in parodying haka by painting male genitals on their body and performing with sexually obscene gestures - was disrupted by a collection of Māori and Pacific Island students ( He Taua, or The War Party) headed by Ngā Tamatoa, a prominent Māori activist group. For two decades people including Māori students at the university had asked the university and the engineering department to stop the tradition. In 1979 the protesters included Hone Harawira, later a Member of Parliament. Several of the engineering students were assaulted, and members of He Taua were arrested. Their court case in Auckland sparked anti-racism protests outside the courthouse and was supported by a range of people including the president of the Auckland University Students Association.

The choreographed dance and chant popularized around the world by the All Blacks derives from " Ka Mate", a brief haka previously intended for extemporaneous, non-synchronized performance, whose composition is attributed to Te Rauparaha (1760s-1849), a war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe. The "Ka Mate" haka is classified as a haka taparahi - a ceremonial haka performed without weapons. "Ka Mate" is about the cunning ruse Te Rauparaha used to outwit his enemies, and may be interpreted as "a celebration of the triumph of life over death". Concerns were expressed that the authorship and significance of this haka to the Ngāti Toa were being lost and that it had "become the most performed, the most maligned, the most abused of all haka", and was now "the most globally recognised form of cultural appropriation". Specific legal challenges regarding the rights of the Ngāti Toa to be acknowledged as the authors and owners of "Ka Mate" were eventually settled in a Deed of Settlement between Ngāti Toa and the New Zealand Government and New Zealand Rugby Union agreed in 2009 and signed in 2012.

In Indonesia, a culture of doing Haka-haka or its more commonly known variation Yel-yel exist and performed by groups such as military personnel, law enforcement, civil servants, students, and others.

A performance by the Kahurangi Māori Dance group, United States.

In the 21st century, kapa haka has been offered as a subject in universities, including the study of haka, and is practiced in schools and military institutions.

In addition to the national Te Matatini ("many faces") festival, local and regional competitions attract dozens of teams and thousands of spectators.

The All Blacks' use of haka has become the most widely known, but several other New Zealand sports teams now perform haka before commencing a game. These include the national rugby league team ("the Kiwis"), and the men's national basketball team ("Tall Blacks"). In the lead up to the Rugby World Cup in 2011, flashmob haka became a popular way of expressing support for the All Blacks. Some Māori leaders thought it was "inappropriate" and a "bastardisation" of haka. Sizeable flashmob haka were performed in Wellington and Auckland, as well as London, which has a large New Zealander immigrant community.

The music video for the song " Poi E" (1983) by the Pātea Māori Club, written by Dalvanius Prime and Ngoi Pēwhairangi, used a mixture of kapa haka and hip-hop choreography. This was then mixed with moves from Michael Jackson's Thriller music video as the outro song parody for Taika Waititi's movie Boy (2010).

In November 2012, a Māori kapa haka group from Rotorua performed a version of the " Gangnam Style" dance mixed with a traditional haka in Seoul, celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations between South Korea and New Zealand.

On 7 December 2014, at the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup in Dallas, Texas, Team New Zealand performed a haka on roller skates to the Australian Roller Derby team before their bout in the quarter-finals. Team New Zealand performed a haka before their debut game against Team USA at the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup, on 1 December 2011; however, it was unexpected and the arena music was still playing. It has since become an expected tradition.

In March 2019, following the Christchurch mosque shootings, school pupils and other groups performed haka to honour those killed in the attacks.

The choreography in the " Miroh" music video by South Korean boy band Stray Kids featured haka elements.

Three or four American football teams are known to perform haka as a pregame rite. This appears to have begun at Kahuku High School where both the student body and local community includes many Polynesian Hawaiians, Māori, Samoans, Tahitians, and Tongans. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team also adopted haka as a pregame rite during the 2006 season, and the practice has spread to a number of other teams overseas; there has, however, been some criticism of this as inappropriate and disrespectful. Non-traditional or inaccurate haka performances have been criticised by Māori academics, such as Morgan Godfery.

Similar dances

Hartigan, Ryan (2011). "Embarrassing Time, Performing Disunity: Rugby, the haka, and Aotearoa - New Zealand in the United Kingdom". Performance Research. Taylor & Francis. 16 (2): 37-43. doi:10.1080/13528165.2011.578728. S2CID 194059694.

Hokowhitu, Brendan (2014). Graham, Laura (ed.). "Haka: Colonised Physicality, Body-Logic, and Embodied Sovereignty". Performing Indigeneity: Global Histories and Contemporary Experiences. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1d9nmw6. ISBN 978-0-8032-7415-0.

Hunt, Tom (19 September 2015). "Flashback: The All Blacks perform haka for the first time". The Dominion Post - via Stuff.co.nz.

Hyland, Nicola (March 2015). "Beyoncé's Response (eh?): Feeling the Ihi of Spontaneous Haka Performance in Aotearoa/New Zealand". TDR/The Drama Review. 59 (1): 67-82. doi:10.1162/DRAM_a_00429. S2CID 57567727.

Jackson, Steven J.; Hokowhitu, Brendan (2002). "Sport, Tribes, and Technology". Journal of Sport and Social Issues. 26 (2): 125-39. doi:10.1177/0193723502262002. S2CID 144368028.

Kāretu, Tīmoti (1993a). Haka!: Te Tohu O Te Whenua Rangatira. Auckland: Reed. ISBN 978-0-7900-0290-3.

Kāretu, Timoti (1993b). Haka: Dance of the Noble People. Auckland: Reed.

Matthews, Nathan (2004). "The Physicality of Māori Message Transmission: Ko Te Tinana, He Waka Tuku Kōrero". The Journal for Thematic Dialogue. 3 (Body): 9-18.

McLean, Mervyn (1996). Maori music. Auckland: Auckland University Press.

Mitcalfe, Barry (1974). The Singing Word: Maori Poetry. Wellington: Price Milburn for Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-7055-0369-3.

Pōmare, Mīria (3 March 2017). "Ngāti Toarangatira - Chant composed by Te Rauparaha". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Ryan, Greg (1993). Forerunners of the All Blacks. Christchurch, New Zealand: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-0-908812-30-1.

Simon, Hemopereki (6 August 2013), "Haka and Its Appropriation", Indigenous Studies (INDS130), Wollongong: University of Wollongong

Simon, Hemopereki (2015). "Me Haka I te Haka a Tānerore?: Māori 'Post-War' Culture and the Place of Haka in Commemoration at Gallipoli". Australasian Canadian Studies. 32 (1).

Smith, Valance (22 October 2014a). "'Kapa haka - Māori performing arts - 19th-century kapa haka". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Smith, Valance (22 October 2014b). "Kapa haka - Māori performing arts - Kapa haka in the 21st century". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Walker, Ranginui (2004). Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou. Auckland: Penguin.

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Haka (, ; singular haka, in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. Haka are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed by both men and women for a variety of social functions within Māori culture.

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I lived in Canada for a while, and at an end of the school year ceremony. I witnessed a Tsq̓éscen̓ dance, throat singing ceremony.

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The Mari Lwyd ( Welsh pronunciation: [ˈma.ri ˈlʊi̯d]) is a wassailing folk custom found in South Wales. The tradition entails the use of an eponymous hobby horse which is made from a horse's skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth.

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In the UK, many of us enjoy turkey, mince pies and presents on 25 December. But for some children they get presents much sooner.

Christmas is celebrated differently all over the world - you might have some of your own special family traditions that come from other countries too.

So how is Christmas celebrated outside of the UK? We've got ten festive traditions from across Europe for you to learn about!

St Nicholas Day - 6 December

You might know other names for Father Christmas such as Santa Claus or even Jolly Saint Nic?

But did you know that the name comes from European traditions such as the feast of Sinterklaas or St Nicholas Day.

Christmas celebrations start early in the Netherlands, and parts of Belgium, as Sinterklaas - that is St Nicholas - arrives by boat on the last Saturday in November.

He travels across the Netherlands dressed in red bishops robes. He also doesn't ride in a sleigh like Father Christmas does on Christmas Eve in the UK, instead, he travels on a white horse called Amerigo.

When he arrives, children leave out a shoe with a carrot inside for his horse Amerigo.

Children usually get their presents on the evening of 5 December, which is known as Sinterklaas Eve.

St Nicholas Day celebrations also start in Germany on 6 December.

Children tidy their rooms, clean their toys, and shoes and boots are polished and placed outside by the door.

The next morning, the boots are filled with sweets, nuts, and small gifts if the children have been good.

If they've been naughty, St Nicholas' servant Knecht Ruprecht will leave twigs for them!

In Germany a meal is eaten on Christmas Eve, which won't contain any meat and children will also open their main Christmas presents on 24 December.

Meat can be eaten in a feast on Christmas Day.

Some children in Poland might receive presents on the 6 December for St Nicholas day also known as Sw Mikolaj in the country.

Christmas Eve is also a big deal in Poland where families traditionally gather for a meal known as Wigilia.

They will start eating when they see the first star in the night sky.

The meal has 12 courses, which will traditionally include carp fish.

It will also include the family sharing a special bread wafer called "Oplatek", which symbolises forgiveness and grown-ups give out presents.

Christmas starts on 8 December in Spain with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

In Catalonia, on 8 December, there is a special celebration called the beating of the Christmas log.

Every night until the 24th of December, children 'feed' the happy log with dried fruit and nuts. They also cover up the log - called Tió de Nadal - with a blanket so it stays warm.

Then on Christmas Eve the little log is brought out and beaten with sticks by children while they sing a traditional song.

After this the children look under the blanket to find that Tió de Nadal has 'pooped' out lots of treats!

Like in Poland, the main Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve, called la Nochebuena.

Another tradition happens on 22 December.

There is a big lottery draw called El Gordo, which is covered on the television and on radio, where lots of people win money.

On 28 December, Spain has their equivalent of April Fools' Day, called Holy Innocents' Day, when people play jokes on each other.

Children may be given some presents on Christmas Day, but traditionally they are opened on 6 January.

This is called Epiphany, when the Three Kings are said to have visited the baby Jesus and given him their gifts.

Again, Christmas Eve is a big celebration in Finland, while Christmas Day is quieter and spent relaxing at home with family.

In a city called Turku, a special ceremony happens, which many people watch on television or listen to on the radio.

At the ceremony, the beginning of the Christmas peace period is announced, which lasts from midday on Christmas Eve for 20 days.

Traditionally, people will eat special rice porridge and have plum fruit juice for breakfast on Christmas Eve. There is a tradition to hide almonds in the porridge and whoever finds them will have a lucky year ahead of them.

They may also visit a sauna to relax during the day, before the big celebrations in the evening.

Father Christmas is known as Joulupukki, which means "Christmas Goat". Because of this, people dress up in goat masks to deliver presents.

In Sweden, there is a special celebration on St Lucia Day, which is 13 December.

It isn't completely clear where the tradition of St Lucia came from, as there's a few stories that could have mixed together.

One story says that St Lucia was young Christian girl who was killed in the 4th Century because of what she believed in.

Swedish people mark this with many Lucia processions, led by a girl in a white dress with a crown of candles.

Children open their presents on Christmas Eve. The night before, they are expected to leave a bowl of porridge out for Tomten - their name for Father Christmas - so that he will leave presents for them.

Swedish people also have their main meal on Christmas Eve. This tends to be a big buffet called Julbord, which people are encouraged to visit several times to eat lots of food!

Norwegian children look out for two creatures at Christmas.

First is a creature like a goat called Julebukk, who is a present-carrying gnome. Then there is Jul Nisse, who guards farm animals and plays tricks on children if they don't leave porridge out for him.

They have to do this if they want presents to be left for them, which they open on Christmas Eve after the main meal.

Norway also gives the UK a Christmas tree every year, which stands in Trafalgar Square in London.

This is to say thank you for helping Norway during World War II.

Epiphany (6 January) is marked in Italy when children will receive a stocking of sweets if they've been good or a stocking full of coal if they haven't.

This is brought by the Italian Christmas witch, who is called La Befana.

Some say she accompanied the Wise Men on their way to baby Jesus on Epiphany.

She is said to be old, ugly and wears bad clothes, because she is a symbol for the old year which has ended.

A bit like people in the UK might leave a carrot for Rudolph and a mince pie for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve, some families will leave a glass of wine and some food for La Befana.

Like with many families in the UK, lunch on Christmas Day is the most important meal.

Children in Iceland have to wait until the Christmas Eve meal is finished before they are allowed to open their presents.

Traditionally, the main dish of the meal is called Hangikjot, which is a leg of roast lamb.

They actually have 13 Father Christmases, called Yule Lads!

These mischievous characters are said to live in the mountains and visit towns one by one in the 13 days leading up to Christmas.

Children leave shoes out for the Yule lads, who will leave presents in them if they've been good, or rotten potatoes if they've been bad.

There is a tradition that says everyone must receive a new piece of clothing for Christmas.

If they don't, they might be eaten by a giant Christmas cat who belongs to the Yule lads' mum called Grýla!

In many places in Greece, Easter is celebrated more than Christmas.

However, Christmas is still important. Children go from house to house on Christmas Eve, playing music and singing carols in return for treats to eat.

Before Christmas, fresh basil is wrapped around a wooden cross, which is used to sprinkle water around the house to keep away mischievous goblins called Killantzaroi.

Some people might also keep a fire lit which they think will stop the goblins causing chaos!

Presents are usually given on 1 January.

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St Nicholas Day: Ten European Christmas traditions you may not know - CBBC Newsround

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In the UK, many of us enjoy turkey, mince pies and presents on 25 December. But for some children they get presents much sooner. Christmas is celebrated differently all over the world - you might have some of your own special family traditions that come from other countries too.

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A dish made to memorialise the dead 40 days after death, then at the 3,6 and 9 month mark, and then annually

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British Bulldog/Bulldog/Ackee

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Shared between; Austria, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, South Korea, Mongolia, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Syria