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All traditions

2,237 traditions so far, best known first. 12,419 more are on the list to be written. Filter by region, kind and meal.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 morePeʻa The traditional Samoan rite of full-body tattooing for men, tapped by master artistsRite of passage

🇳🇿 New Zealand and 2 moreMarae A cleared, sacred gathering place at the heart of Māori and Polynesian community lifeSpiritual

🇦🇺 AustraliaSmoking ceremonyNumbuk Yabbun An Aboriginal Australian ritual of burning native plants to cleanse, heal and welcomeSpiritual

🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandTā moko The traditional permanent tattooing of the Māori people of New Zealand, marking identity and status.Rite of passage

🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 moreʻIe tōga Precious woven mats exchanged in Samoan ceremonies to honor family ties and chiefly status.Dress 🇹🇴 TongaTauʻolunga A Tongan dance of hand gestures and steady eyes, performed by young women at weddingsPerformance 🇼🇸 Samoa and 3 moreWhite SundayLotu Tamaiti A Samoan holiday honoring children with church services, white clothing, and family gatherings on the second Sunday of OFestival · Dinner 🇦🇺 AustraliaWalkabout A rite of passage involving travel through the Australian landscape to learn ancestral lore.Rite of passage 🇫🇲 Satawal, MicronesiaPwo An initiation that turns students of Caroline Islands wayfinding into navigatorsRite of passage 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea and 5 moreCouvade Childbirth rituals where fathers take to bed and mimic the labor of childbirthRite of passage

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

ʻIe tōga: Sarah Kelemen, CC BY 2.0, source
Marae: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Smoking ceremony: Shillings1005, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tā moko: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
Peʻa: Thomas Andrew (1855-1939), Public domain, source

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.