Christmas Tradition

Link to the website we used

Every Christmas there is singing at church.
Christmas for Tongans is very spiritual and
active all about the food and family.

The holiday season starts on November 4
which is Tonga's national holiday and ends
January 1. Christmas Day in Tonga is a
singing
and dancing celebration. All the villages would
have a singing competition and friends and family
would get together and exchange food with each other
to show their unity and love for one another. Gift giving
in Tonga is a little different; woman usually prepare
tapa cloths or mats called ngatu and give it to their
brothers and then the brothers would prepare a tokonaki
or raw food like meats to give to their sisters.
Christmas food in Tonga is Roasted pig, ufi, sweet potato
(kumala), taro, taro leaves, corned beef, coconut milk,
and all sorts of fish and seafood.Tongans decorate their
trees with balloons, and candy.
A fun activity during Christmas time for the kids and
adults too is called fana pitu. Fana pitu is translated as the
shooting bamboo. Girls can’t wear short things because it is
rude and disrespectful to their brothers.