Male coming of age is something most boys don’t look forward to in tribes where this stage isn’t met with fun. Most boys dread this transition as they have painful hurdles to pass through to be the man the society wants them to be.
Drug dosage
Young boys of the Algonquin Indian tribe of Quebec are supposedly kept in a special cage for 14 to 21 days then forced to ingest wysoccan, a potent hallucinogen derived from the Datura plant.
The purpose of this ceremony is to completely erase the boy’s familial and childhood memories as they are believed to be ‘weaknesses’ that limit their masculinity.
However, the drug does not only cause memory loss but can also cause serious disabilities such as loss of speech, palpitations, extreme delusion, aggression, loss of movement, weakness, and can even lead to death.
As if this is not enough, the young initiates are examined for another 14 to 21 days.
If they have completely forgotten their childhood, then it means they passed the ritual and are considered real men.
If they remember their family then they’ll have to take another dose of the deadly drug.
Circumcision
The Xhosa tribe in South Africa conducts the initiation ritual every year where their boys transition into adults are circumcised traditionally.
After the cut is made, the period of seclusion that follows lasts about one month and is divided into two phases.
During the first seven days the initiates are confined to a hut (bhoma) and the use of certain foods, for example, meat, is restricted, but this may differ as certain homes have their own beliefs or ways of doing things. Water may also be restricted.
This phase culminates in the ukojiswa rite, during which food taboos are released, marking the transition to the second phase that lasts a further two to three weeks.
During these phases, the initiates are looked after by the ikhankatha (traditional attendant).
The termination of the period of seclusion commences when the boys are urged to race down to the river to wash themselves.
The hut (Bhoma) and the initiates’ possessions are burnt, including their clothing. This symbolizes a new outward appearance the initiates must take on.
It is even customary for the initiated to dress very formally for a set period of time after the rite.
Each initiate receives a new blanket and is now called “ikrwala” (singular) which means new man or amakrwala. (plural) (new men). Non inititated men are called Indoda.
Ant bullet
The Mawé, also known as the Sateré or Sateré-Mawé, are an indigenous people of Brazil living in the state of Amazonas.
The Mawé test their young men’s strength against a natural venomous predator: the bullet ant – ‘Paraponera clavata’,
A single sting from ‘Paraponera clavata’, is capable of causing hours of pain.
The effects of a single ant sting have been known to last days even after removing it; the warrior hopefuls of the Mawé tribe, however, do not sustain just one sting.
While unconscious, the ants are woven into a pair of gloves made from leaves, with their stingers facing inward.
The boys as young as twelve will wear a glove filled with the ants while being stung for ten minutes or more.
The tribe leads the initiates in song and dance during the ordeal, but this distraction is their only relief.
And while completing the ceremony earns the young men respect, they must wear the gloves a total of twenty times before being considered fully initiated as tribal warriors.
Body tattoo to look like a crocodile
One of the oldest cultural practices still followed by the Chambri people of Papua is the initiation ceremony rites done every year that ushers boys into manhood and becoming “crocodiles”.
To the Chambri people and a larger percentage of the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea, the crocodile is a most revered reptile that symbolises strength, spirituality, and human preservation.
They pay homage to this sacred animal every 4-5 years through a ceremony involving scarification.
Scarification might be a trendy new body modification in the western world, but for the Chambri Tribe, it is a right of passage for males aged 11 to 30 years.
To make the transition from boy to man, elders cut deeply into their backs, chests, and buttocks to make the skin appear scaly: like that of a crocodile.
Whipping
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people travel far and wide to witness the painful initiation ceremony called the ‘whip match’ where young boys from age 12 will whip each other without flinching.
The point is to show the least amount of pain and whip the hardest. As there are no official judges, the crowd chooses the winner.
The winner becomes a man and is congratulated by his friends and family throwing talc powder on him and pressing coins on his forehead. The loser, however, goes home, still a boy, and is expected to come back till he wins to be a real man.
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