Christmas Day on Mauke in the Cook Islands

The people of Mauke have a holiday tradition that is different than any of the other islands in the Cooks.

Every Christmas and New Years one of the two villages on the island hosts the other with a feast. The food is laid out at different houses throughout the host village. The guest village then goes from house to house singing traditional songs.

Christmas Day starts with a church service and then everyone starts making the rounds singing and feasting. This starts around 1:00 PM and goes on until well after dark.

Then, on New Years Day, the villages switch roles and the ones that sang host the other village and they do the singing.