Dancing Grass Harvesting Teff in the Tigrean Highlands

Dancing Grass captures the communal harvesting of teff among Tigreans of Northern Ethiopia Teff an ancient indigenous grain is central to the livelihood of smallholder farmers and may be called the cereal core of Ethiopian national food identity A local elder provides the commentary for the sequence of events that unfold in the homestead fields and neighbourhood of the authors eldest brother and family the cutting of the dancing grass the drying and stacking the threshing and winnowing then the sale of teff in the local market off with a donkey to the mill cooking enjera for family and guests coffee drinking and blessing and finally the Mesqel fire an Orthodox Christian celebration at the end of the rainy season