Families gather on the North Shore of Oahu to sing the E Ala E (The Sun Rise Ceremony), which is chanted early in the morning to aid the sun in its efforts to start a new day. The gathering was was part of the Makahiki season celebration, which was the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival, in honor of the god Lono of the Hawaiian religion. In the Hawaiian language, the word Makahiki means "year" as well as the change from harvest time to the beginning of the agricultural season.
