Happy International Tokeanefege Day

[brightpearl]

I've noticed some animosity aimed at our new member, Authorntuhkat, whenever he posts in celebration of International Tokeanefege Day. At first I assumed it was plain old prejudice, but then I realized it might just be ignorance. Perhaps some of our number are unaware of the wonders of the festivals of Tokeanefege, its history, its customs. So, in the spirit of international cooperation and mutual understanding, please post your stories and photos of your own experiences with International Tokeanefege Day here.

I'll start with a short history.
The first Tokeanefege celebrations of hundreds of years ago, begun to commemorate the hourly return of the Western Lesser Banded Pygmy Proust's Grunion to the shores of a series of small lagoons in the island chain of Lumpkey, were much different than they are today. Archaeologists have painstakingly pieced together the story from precious little evidence, but the fragments of lime-green fabric and piles of fish scales are believed to indicate that the earliest festivals involved elaborate pageantries in which the head priestess, dressed in a long gown of goatskin and purple peacock feathers, adorned with long strings of antelope teeth inset with abalone, and smeared with alligator grease, sang rhyming dirges through a megaphone made of a hollowed tree stump and then took a ceremonial nap in a large teacup made especially for this purpose. Debate over the significance of the large cooking vessels and piles of fish bones continues. They may have been still life arrangements for the ritual oil paintings, or, alternatively, they may have been sleeping quarters for the grunions the islanders obviously worshipped as gods.

Here is a photo of my own Tokeanefege menorah:


and here are Joyce, Victor, Janice, and the kids blowing up the traditional Tar-knocking hat: