Communal work

Communal work is a gathering to accomplish a task or to hold a competition. A number of cultures have such gatherings, often for the purpose of holding a competition, as in a spelling bee, or for providing manual labour, as in a barn raising, or quilting bee.

Especially in the past major jobs, such as clearing a field of timber or raising a barn, needed many workers. It was often both a social and utilitarian event. Jobs like corn husking or sewing could be done as a group to allow socializing during an otherwise tedious chore. Such gatherings often included refreshments and entertainment. Different words have been used to describe such gatherings.

This use of the word bee is common in literature describing colonial North America. It was, and continues to be, commonly used in Australia also, most often as "working bee".

Uses in literature include:

Because the word describes people working together in a social group, a common false etymology is that the term derives from the insect of the same name and similar social behavior. According to etymological research recorded in dictionaries, the word probably comes from dialectal been or bean (meaning "help given by neighbors"), which came from Middle English bene (meaning "prayer", "boon" and "extra service by a tenant to his lord")

Gadugi (Cherokee:ᎦᏚᎩ) is a term used in the Cherokee language which means "working together" or "cooperative labor" within a community. Historically, the word referred to a labor gang of men and/or women working together for projects such as harvesting crops or tending to gardens of elderly or infirm tribal members. The word Gadugi was derived from the Cherokee word for "bread", which is Gadu.

In recent years the Cherokee Nation tribal government has promoted the concept of Gadugi. The GaDuGi Health Center is a tribally run clinic in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation. The concept is becoming more widely known. In Lawrence, Kansas, in 2004 the rape crisis center affiliated with the University of Kansas, adopted the name, the Gadugi Safe Center, for its programs to aid all people affected by sexual violence.

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