Uninang!

To mark the end of summer and the harvest of the Bunun tribe's most important crop, millet, my school held a festival at the end of September. What does your family do to celebrate the end of summer?

Location: 
Luan Shan Primary School

Photos

This is the traditional clothing the Bunun teacher gave me to wear for the festival. You will often find bright woven patterns on traditional Bunun clothing.
Before any festivities started, the Bunun teacher at my school taught all of the students the significance of the millet harvest in their culture.
All of the students, even the first graders, helped prepare the millet to be stored. The millet has to be tied in a specific way, according to their tradition.
Tying the millet together was a group effort, and we were all very proud to hold up our finished product!
He was way better at tying the millet together than I was!
After the millet was tied up, all of the students stood in a line to pass the millet into the storage barn. Each time they passed it on, they have to thank the gods for bringing them the harvest by saying "Uninang!" which means "Thank you!".
At the end of the festival everyone ate a traditional meal of pork and millet. Millet is almost like a mix between oatmeal and rice, and it's very tasty!

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