Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving and Hatch Night

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

And to all my friends in Howlina I bid you Kala  Manoga Neeka.

Manoga Neeka (Hatch Night) is the night that the sea turtles hatch and make their way to the sea.  It all happens on one night about 45 days after the mothers come ashore and lay their eggs during Chelona Vedomada (Turtle Week).  

It happens in mid-Spring during a full moon.  It is celebrated around the country but especially in the communities on the shore where the nest are.  It is the culmination of the Turtle season and those families who have adopted nests stay up all night helping the little ones make their way safely to the sea.

If the nest empties entirely and all the hatch-lings make it safely to the ocean then the family is considered to have good luck all year.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the Good Luck scenario. Do they celebrate Thanksgiving also?
Love, A. Char xoxoxoxo ;-p

Inner Prop said...

They do not. As far as I know the USA and Canada are the only two countries that celebrate "Thanksgiving."

Canada's is in October on a Monday usually around the time we celebrate Columbus Day (which is itself around the time of year that his first voyage landed in the Caribbean.

Columbus never got near Howlina. Neitehr did the Pilgrims, though the Howlers did meet them in Holland.

Howlina never had a pre-European population so the idea of the Thanksgiving feast and sharing it with the natives is not appropriate.