Due to it's very nature, Tazmily doesn't celebrate any of the religious or other cultural holidays that we do today, but every civilization, no matter how small, has it's own traditions. Because of the intimate nature of the people of the village, no one's birthday goes unnoticed and every anniversary is remembered, usually marked with gifts and gatherings of friends and family. Of course, while they're very important days for the village, they're still familiar to us... but Tazmily has it's own special holidays as well.
Founder's Day happens every year on the first day of Spring, and commemorates the birth of the village long ago. While it is viewed as a time of pride and respect by most of the adults in the village, children are given a map of the village marked with specific houses and shops to visit in a certain order. As a group of children arrives at each stop, someone who lives or works at that location will tell them a small bit of a story called The Great White Dove, and then give each child a small snack to eat 'on their great journey' before sending them on their way to the next spot on the map. Once a child has visited every location and heard the entire story, they will receive a white or black ribbon that they will use for the next game.
Just before sunset, Pusher, the mayor of the village, will divide the children who finish the entire journey into groups based on which ribbon they received, while Leder puts on a tremendous sheet and finds a place to hide. Each group of kids represents a faction from The Great White Dove... one group playing the roles of the heroic mice who escape with the titular dove, and the other representing the tremendous black hawks that tried to prevent their exodus. The mice will then rush through the town in search of Leder, while the hawks chase down the mice and do their best to tag them out of the game. When a mouse finds Leder, they will also hide under the sheet until the game is over, resulting in a hiding place that continues to grow comically larger and lumpier. The game ends when every mouse has been captured or has 'escaped' with Leder, at which point the results are tallied up and announced in the town square. If more mice escaped than were captured, it is believed that it will be a bountiful Spring ahead, but if most of the mice were captured, then the harvest won't truly begin until Summer.
Despite pretty much everyone knowing The Great White Dove by heart, and most kids finding some discrete place to dump the Nut Cookies that they receive from Mike every year, Founder's Day continues to be a beloved tradition that every family looks forward to.
Taking a more somber tone, Day of the Dragon is that holiday that just about every kid wishes they could sleep through. While very few people on the island still believe in the mysterious dragon of legend, many still treat the holiday with respect, abstaining from consuming anything but water until sundown. Adults and children are encouraged to put aside their work and play, instead spending the entire day at home with their families as an act of reverence and thankfulness, leaving only to spend some time meditating in silence at the Dragon Shrine in Sunshine Forest.
Dinner is meant to be a very simple affair, usually consisting only of raw fruits and vegetables, as to keep the parents from laboring in the kitchen. However, some have said that they love cooking and consider it to be disrespectful not to use the gift they've been given, preparing large bountiful meals for their family, and usually preparing extra for any friends and neighbors who would like to drop by. While many villagers continue to strictly adhere to the traditions of the Day of the Dragon, more and more groups are beginning to accept it as a more social holiday, especially among families where the elderly have passed away.
Tradition is simply an artifact of human nature, one that not even Tazmily Village can escape. And in the end, perhaps that's for the best... after all, history should always be remembered in some way.
Founder's Day happens every year on the first day of Spring, and commemorates the birth of the village long ago. While it is viewed as a time of pride and respect by most of the adults in the village, children are given a map of the village marked with specific houses and shops to visit in a certain order. As a group of children arrives at each stop, someone who lives or works at that location will tell them a small bit of a story called The Great White Dove, and then give each child a small snack to eat 'on their great journey' before sending them on their way to the next spot on the map. Once a child has visited every location and heard the entire story, they will receive a white or black ribbon that they will use for the next game.
Just before sunset, Pusher, the mayor of the village, will divide the children who finish the entire journey into groups based on which ribbon they received, while Leder puts on a tremendous sheet and finds a place to hide. Each group of kids represents a faction from The Great White Dove... one group playing the roles of the heroic mice who escape with the titular dove, and the other representing the tremendous black hawks that tried to prevent their exodus. The mice will then rush through the town in search of Leder, while the hawks chase down the mice and do their best to tag them out of the game. When a mouse finds Leder, they will also hide under the sheet until the game is over, resulting in a hiding place that continues to grow comically larger and lumpier. The game ends when every mouse has been captured or has 'escaped' with Leder, at which point the results are tallied up and announced in the town square. If more mice escaped than were captured, it is believed that it will be a bountiful Spring ahead, but if most of the mice were captured, then the harvest won't truly begin until Summer.
Despite pretty much everyone knowing The Great White Dove by heart, and most kids finding some discrete place to dump the Nut Cookies that they receive from Mike every year, Founder's Day continues to be a beloved tradition that every family looks forward to.
Taking a more somber tone, Day of the Dragon is that holiday that just about every kid wishes they could sleep through. While very few people on the island still believe in the mysterious dragon of legend, many still treat the holiday with respect, abstaining from consuming anything but water until sundown. Adults and children are encouraged to put aside their work and play, instead spending the entire day at home with their families as an act of reverence and thankfulness, leaving only to spend some time meditating in silence at the Dragon Shrine in Sunshine Forest.
Dinner is meant to be a very simple affair, usually consisting only of raw fruits and vegetables, as to keep the parents from laboring in the kitchen. However, some have said that they love cooking and consider it to be disrespectful not to use the gift they've been given, preparing large bountiful meals for their family, and usually preparing extra for any friends and neighbors who would like to drop by. While many villagers continue to strictly adhere to the traditions of the Day of the Dragon, more and more groups are beginning to accept it as a more social holiday, especially among families where the elderly have passed away.
Tradition is simply an artifact of human nature, one that not even Tazmily Village can escape. And in the end, perhaps that's for the best... after all, history should always be remembered in some way.
