Towards the end of the old year the Tuscarora start preparing for the Nu'Ya's feast which coincides with the first day of the New Year. So old men and young men go hunt for the feast and whoever brings in less game has to clean ALL the game! YUCK. Young men consist of those who don't have children and old men have children. From what I have heard young men usually lose. Also sometimes the different age groups play tricks on one another. One trick I heard about was the old men telling the young men the wrong date of the hunt so that there would be less competition!
Come Nu Ya's feast we were eager to taste the fruit of our labor and um um was it good!
After the hunt everyone that is participating has to have their game brought in to the old gym where it is counted, the losers are determined and then the cleaning commences. We got to experience some of the count. All together there were 4 deer and countless rabbits. All is used for the feast. On New Year's eve people are still preparing. So Joe and I went to the old gym for a few hours. While I peeled potatoes Joe butchered some rabbit meat. Then we both took our turns pounding the Indian corn that would become cornbread - boiled not baked!
Come Nu Ya's feast we were eager to taste the fruit of our labor and um um was it good!
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