Publisher's Synopsis
In this text children are shown the customs and rituals that help people to live in groups. They can look at the ceremonies concerned with hunting, sowing crops and the harvest, and see how many have their roots in religious beliefs. They can also observe the rituals which surround eating, learn how the everyday practice of giving and receiving gifts is steeped in ritual, and see how people settle their differences in various traditional ways, from a straight fight to more complex song-duels and drumming contests.;This is part of a series which paints a picture of the age-old traditions that govern our lives. Life's turning points, such as naming, coming of age, getting married and dying are celebrated in different ways around the world. It should help children to form a better understanding of other cultures and their practices, see the underlying likenesses in different customs, and learn a tolerance of others so necessary in a multicultural society.
