The Six Nations community celebrated the new year Wednesday with door-to-door festivities, treats and a lively wake-up call.
Their “No:lah,” pronounced like “new yaw,” tradition stretches back about 400 years, marking the beginning of the first day of the new year, by waking up neighbours with their voice.
Local Six Nations resident Joe Martin said the custom has similarities to Halloween but families go from house to house, greeting friends and family, exchanging homemade doughnuts and other baked treats.
Martin said the term “No:lah” comes from “our relatives, the Dutch, about 400 years ago,” adapting how they pronounced “new year” into their own language.
The tradition stretches beyond the borders of the Six Nations.
Martin said he and his kids drove to family members “all over the place” to share the well wishes and he said he’s been participating in the No:lah tradition since he was just a child and now happily brings his daughters along with him.
A tradition his daughter said she holds close to her heart.
