Yam Yanarawia Ceremony - Tanna's Sacred first Harvest

The Yanarawia festival on Tanna marks the annual first yam harvest in the island's southern region. A special ceremony honours "Majikjiki," the god or spirit believed to bless the harvest. Offerings of crops (yam, banana, taro) and fish are collected and stored at the nakamal the day before as thanks.

The yam cycle is deeply interwoven with Tannese kastom (animistic practice/magic), involving fasting, taboos, maintaining right relationships, honouring community members, and rituals for manipulating the elements through spirits and the collective emotional state, as the entire community's actions impact the harvest.

Images courtesy of LiamWills Photography.