Corn dollies ("vetulas") were thought to hold the spirit of the corn in harvest rituals.

The harvest ritual, which varies slightly from community to community, begins with a prayer and sacrifice of flowers, fruits, and rice.

Other people, among them Hutchinson and Stehle, see the First Partheneion as a song, composed for a harvest ritual and not as a tribal initiation.

There are also several fertility rituals which make the festival truly a harvest ritual.

The Indian harvest ritual has proved most controversial, the Rev. Hoyt Hickman, a church official, said.

Derived from the harvest rituals of Africans, Kwanzaa is observed each year from December 26 through January 1.

Perhaps a harvest ritual, for now they stood beside a great pile of pastry, feeding bites to one another.

In addition to the harvest ritual, land diving is also a rite of passage.

The Government argues that the rites do not violate the Constitution's ban on Government support of religion because the ceremony is basically a secular harvest ritual with "religious elements" in it.

Classes learn about Thanksgiving alongside harvest rituals from South America, Asia and Africa.