Ancient tribes that have survived to this day. Life of wild African tribes
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The main part of the peoples of Africa includes groups consisting of several thousand, and sometimes hundreds of people, but at the same time - does not exceed 10% of the total population of this continent. As a rule, such small ethnic groups are the wildest tribes.
It is to this group that, for example, the Mursi tribe belongs.
Ethiopian tribe Mursi - the most aggressive ethnic group
Ethiopia is the oldest country in the world. It is Ethiopia that is considered the progenitor of mankind, it is here that the remains of our ancestor, modestly named Lucy, were found.
More than 80 ethnic groups live in the country.
Living in southwestern Ethiopia, on the border with Kenya and Sudan, settled in the Mago Park, the Mursi tribe is distinguished by unusually tough customs. They, by right, can be nominated for the title of the most aggressive ethnic group.
Prone to frequent alcohol consumption and uncontrolled use of weapons. IN Everyday life The main weapon of the men of the tribe is the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which they buy in Sudan.
In fights, they can often beat each other almost to death, trying to prove their dominance in the tribe.
Scientists attribute this tribe to a mutated Negroid race, with distinctive features in the form of short stature, wide bones and crooked legs, low and strongly compressed foreheads, flattened noses and pumped up short necks.
Mursi female bodies often look flabby and sickly, bellies and breasts drooping, and backs stooped. There is practically no hair, which was often hidden under intricate headdresses of a very fantasy appearance, using as a material everything that can be picked up or caught nearby: rough skins, branches, dried fruits, marsh clams, someone's tails, dead insects, and even an incomprehensible smelly fall.
The most famous feature of the Mursi tribe is the tradition of inserting plates into the lips of girls.
The more public, civilized Mursi do not always show all these characteristic attributes, but the exotic look of their lower lip is business card tribe.
Plates are made different size made of wood or clay, the shape can be round or trapezoidal, sometimes with a hole in the middle. For beauty, the plates are covered with a pattern.
The lower lip is cut in childhood, pieces of wood are inserted there, gradually increasing their diameter.
Mursi girls start wearing plates at the age of 20, six months before marriage. The lower lip is pierced and a small disk is inserted into it, after the lip is stretched, the disk is replaced with a larger one and so on until the desired diameter is reached (up to 30 centimeters !!).
The size of the plate matters: the larger the diameter, the more the girl is valued and the more cattle the groom will pay for her. Girls must wear these plates at all times except during bedtime and meals, and they can also take them out if there are no males of the tribe nearby.
When the plate is pulled out, the lip droops like a long round cord. Almost all Mursi have no front teeth, the tongue is cracked to the point of blood.
The second strange and frightening adornment of Mursi women is the monista, which are recruited from human finger phalanges (nek). One person has only 28 of these bones in their hands. Each necklace usually consists of phalanxes of five or six tassels, some lovers of "jewelry" monist wrap their neck in several rows
It glistens with fat and emits a sweetish rotting smell of melted human fat, every bone is rubbed daily. The source for the beads never runs out: the priestess of the tribe is ready to deprive the hands of a man who has violated the laws for almost every offense.
It is customary for this tribe to do scarification (scarring).
Men can afford to be scarred only after the first murder of one of their enemies or ill-wishers. If they kill a man, they adorn the right hand, if a woman, then the left.
Their religion, animism, deserves a longer and more shocking story.
Short: women are priestesses of death so they daily give their husbands drugs and poisons.
Antidotes are distributed by the High Priestess, but sometimes salvation does not come to everyone. In such cases, a white cross is drawn on the widow's plate, and she becomes a very respected member of the tribe, who is not eaten after death, but buried in the trunks of special ritual trees. Honor is given to such priestesses because of the fulfillment of the main mission - the will of the God of Death Yamda, which they were able to fulfill by destroying the physical body and freeing the highest spiritual Essence from their man.
The rest of the dead are waiting for the collective eating of the whole tribe. Soft fabrics are boiled in a cauldron, bones are used for jewelry-amulets and thrown on swamps to mark dangerous places.
What seems very wild for a European, for Mursi is commonplace and tradition.
Bushmen tribe
African Bushmen are the most ancient representatives human race. And this is not an assumption at all, but a scientifically proven fact. Who are these ancient people?
The Bushmen are a group of hunting tribes in South Africa. Now these are the remains of a large ancient African population. Bushmen are notable for their short stature, wide cheekbones, narrow slit eyes and much swollen eyelids. It is difficult to determine the true color of their skin, because in the Kalahari they are not allowed to waste water on washing. But you can see that they are much lighter than their neighbors. Their skin tone is slightly yellowish, which is more typical for South Asians.
Young bushwomen are considered the most beautiful among the female population of Africa.
But as soon as they reach puberty and become mothers, these beauties are simply unrecognizable. Bushmen women have overdeveloped hips and buttocks, and their belly is constantly swollen. This is a consequence of malnutrition.
To distinguish a pregnant Bushwoman from other women of the tribe, she is coated with ash or ocher, since this is very difficult to do in appearance. Bushmen men already by the age of 35 become like octogenarians, due to the fact that their skin sags and the body is covered with deep wrinkles.
Life in the Kalahari is very harsh, but even here there are laws and regulations. The most important wealth in the desert is water. There are old people in the tribe who know how to find water. In the place that they indicate, the representatives of the tribe either dig wells or bring water out with the help of plant stems.
Each Bushman tribe has a secret well, which is carefully filled with stones or covered with sand. During the dry season, the Bushmen dig a hole at the bottom of a dried-up well, take a stem of a plant, suck water through it, taking it into their mouths, and then spit it out into the shell of an ostrich egg.
South African Bushmen tribe the only people on Earth, whose men have permanent erections, This phenomenon does not cause any discomfort or inconvenience, except for the fact that while hunting on foot, men have to fasten the penis to the belt so as not to cling to branches.
Bushmen don't know what private property is. All animals and plants growing on their territory are considered common. Therefore, they hunt both wild animals and farm cows. For this they were very often punished and destroyed by entire tribes. Nobody wants such neighbors.
Among the Bushmen tribes, shamanism is very popular. They do not have leaders, but there are elders and healers who not only cure diseases, but also communicate with spirits. Bushmen are very afraid of the dead, and firmly believe in the afterlife. They pray to the sun, moon, stars. But they do not ask for health or happiness, but for success in hunting.
Bushman tribes speak Khoisan languages which are very difficult for Europeans to pronounce. Characteristic these languages are click consonants. The representatives of the tribe speak among themselves very quietly. This is a long-standing habit of hunters - so as not to scare the game.
There is confirmed evidence that a hundred years ago they were engaged in drawing. Still found in caves cave drawings depicting people and various animals: buffaloes, gazelles, birds, ostriches, antelopes, crocodiles.
In their drawings there are also unusual fairy tale characters: ape people, eared snakes, people with a crocodile face. There is an entire open-air gallery in the desert that presents these amazing drawings by unknown artists.
But now the Bushmen do not paint, they are great in dance, music, pantomime and legends.
VIDEO: Shamanic ritual rite of healing of the Bushmen tribe. Part 1
Shamanic ritual rite of healing of the Bushmen tribe. Part 2
The many-sided Africa, on the vast territory of which in 61 countries with a population of more than a billion people, surrounded by cities of civilized countries, in the secluded corners of this continent, more than 5 million people of almost completely wild African tribes still live.
The members of these tribes do not recognize the achievements of the civilized world and are content with those modest benefits that they inherited from their ancestors. Squalid huts, modest food and a minimum of clothes suit them, and they are not going to change this way.
Cooking...
Tribe kids...
Dancing men...
There are about 3 thousand different tribes and nationalities in Africa, but it is difficult to name their exact number, since most often they are either densely mixed with each other, or vice versa, radically separated. The population of some tribes is only a few thousand or even hundreds of people, and often only 1-2 villages are inhabited. Because of this, there are dialects and dialects on the territory of the African continent, which are sometimes only understood by representatives of a particular tribe. And the variety of rituals, cultural systems, dances, customs and sacrifices is huge and amazing. In addition, the appearance of the people of some tribes is simply amazing.
However, since they all live on the same continent, all African tribes still have something in common. Some elements of culture are characteristic of all nationalities living in this territory. One of the main defining features of African tribes is the orientation to the past, that is, the cult of the culture and life of their ancestors.
The majority of African peoples reject everything new and modern, withdrawing into themselves. Most of all, they are attached to constancy and immutability, including in everything related to everyday life, traditions and customs, leading their existence from great-grandfathers.
It is hard to imagine, but among them there are practically no those who would not be engaged in subsistence farming or cattle breeding. Hunting, fishing or gathering are completely normal activities for them. Just like many centuries ago, African tribes are at war with each other, marriages are most often concluded within one tribe, intertribal marriages among them are very rare. Of course, more than one generation leads such a life, each new child from birth will have to live the same fate.
Tribes differ from each other in their own unique system of life, customs and rituals, beliefs and prohibitions. Most of the tribes invent their own fashions, often stunningly flamboyant, often astonishing in their originality.
Of the most famous and numerous today, tribes can be considered: Masai, Bantu, Zulu, Samburu and Bushmen.
Masai
One of the most famous African tribes. They live in Kenya and Tanzania. The number of representatives reaches 100 thousand people. Most often they can be found on the side of the mountain, which figures prominently in the mythology of the Maasai. Perhaps the size of this mountain influenced the worldview of the members of the tribe - they consider themselves the favorites of the gods, the highest people and sincerely believe that there are no more beautiful people in Africa than they are.
This self-image gave rise to a contemptuous, often even derogatory attitude towards other tribes, which caused frequent wars between the tribes. In addition, it is customary for the Maasai to steal animals from other tribes, which also does not improve their reputation.
The dwelling of the Maasai is built from branches smeared with manure. This is done mainly by women, who also, if necessary, take on the duties of pack animals. The main share of nutrition is milk or blood of animals, less often - meat. A distinctive sign of beauty in this tribe are elongated earlobes. At present, the tribe is almost completely exterminated or dispersed, only in the remote corners of the country, in Tanzania, there are still separate Masai nomad camps.
Bantu
The Bantu tribe lives in Central, South and East Africa. In truth, the Bantu is not even a tribe, but a whole nation, which includes many peoples, for example, Rwanda, Shono, Konga and others. They all have similar languages and customs, which is why they were united into one big tribe. Most Bantu speakers speak two or more languages, the most commonly spoken of which is Swahili. The number of members of the Bantu people reaches 200 million. According to research scientists, it was the Bantu, along with the Bushmen and Hottentots, who became the progenitors of the South African colored race.
Bantu have a peculiar appearance. They have very dark skin and an amazing hair structure - each hair is curled in a spiral. Wide noses and wings, a low nose bridge and high stature - often over 180 cm - are also hallmarks of Bantu people. Unlike the Maasai, the Bantu do not shy away from civilization and willingly invite tourists to study tours of their villages.
Like any African tribe, a major part of Bantu life is occupied by religion, namely, traditional African animistic beliefs, as well as Islam and Christianity. The Bantu dwelling resembles a Maasai house - the same round shape, with a frame made of branches coated with clay. True, in some areas Bantu houses are rectangular, painted, with gable, shed or flat roofs. The members of the tribe are mainly engaged in agriculture. hallmark bantu can be called enlarged lower lip into which small discs are inserted.
Zulu
The Zulu people, once the largest ethnic group, now number only 10 million people. The Zulus use their own language - Zulu, which comes from the Bantu family and is the most common in South Africa. In addition, English, Portuguese, Sesotho and other African languages are in circulation among the members of the people.
The Zulu tribe suffered a difficult period during the apartheid era in South Africa, when, being the most numerous people, it was defined as a second-class population.
As for the beliefs of the tribe, most of the Zulus remained true to national beliefs, but there are also Christians among them. The Zulu religion is based on belief in a creator god, superior and separate from the daily routine. Representatives of the tribe believe that you can contact the spirits through the soothsayers. All negative manifestations in the world, including illness or death, are considered as the machinations of evil spirits or the result of evil witchcraft. In the Zulu religion, the main place is occupied by cleanliness, frequent ablutions in the custom of representatives of the people.
Samburu
The Samburu tribe lives in the northern regions of Kenya, on the border of the foothills and the northern desert. About five hundred years ago, the Samburu people settled in this territory and quickly populated the plain. This tribe is distinguished by independence and is much more confident in its elitism than the Masai. The life of the tribe depends on livestock, but, unlike the Maasai, the Samburu raise livestock themselves and roam with them from place to place. Customs and ceremonies occupy a significant place in the life of the tribe and are distinguished by the splendor of colors and forms.
Samburu huts are made of clay and skins, outside the dwelling is surrounded by a thorny fence to protect it from wild animals. Representatives of the tribe carry their houses with them, assembling anew at each parking lot.
It is customary for samburu to divide labor between men and women, this also applies to children. Women's duties include gathering, milking cows and fetching water, as well as arranging firewood, cooking and looking after children. Of course, the general order and stability is in charge of the female half of the tribe. Samburu men are responsible for herding livestock, which is their main livelihood.
most important detail the life of the people is childbearing, sterile women are subjected to severe persecution and bullying. Normally, the tribe worships the spirits of ancestors, as well as witchcraft. The Samburu believe in charms, spells, and rituals for fertility and protection.
Bushmen
The most famous African tribe among Europeans since ancient times is the Bushmen. The name of the tribe consists of the English "bush" - "bush" and "man" - "man", but it is dangerous to call representatives of the tribe this way - it is considered offensive. It is more correct to call them "san", which in the language of the Hottentots means "foreign". Externally, the Bushmen are somewhat different from other African tribes, they have lighter skin and thinner lips. In addition, they are the only ones who eat ant larvae. Their dishes are considered a feature national cuisine this people. The Bushmen's way of life also differs from that generally accepted among savage tribes. Instead of chieftains and sorcerers, the elders choose elders from among the most experienced and respected members of the tribe. Elders lead the life of the people, without using any advantages at the expense of others. It should be noted that the Bushmen also believe in an afterlife, like other African tribes, but they do not have the ancestor cult adopted by other tribes.
Among other things, the San have a rare talent for storytelling, song, and dance. Musical instrument they can make practically them all. For example, there are bows stretched with animal hair or bracelets made from dried insect cocoons with pebbles inside, which are used to beat the rhythm during the dance. Almost everyone who has the opportunity to observe musical experiments Bushmen, try to write them down in order to pass them on to future generations. This is all the more relevant since current century dictates its own rules and many Bushmen have to deviate from centuries-old traditions and go as workers on farms in order to provide for their families and tribes.
This is a very small number of tribes living in Africa. There are so many of them that it would take several volumes to describe them all, but each of them boasts a unique value system and way of life, not to mention rituals, customs and costumes.
Video: Wild tribes of Africa: ...
In our society, the transition from the state of a child to the state of adulthood is not specifically marked in any way. However, among many peoples of the world, a boy becomes a man, and a girl a woman, only if they endure a series of severe trials.
For boys, this is initiation, the most important part of which for many peoples was circumcision. At the same time, naturally, it was not done at all in infancy, as among modern Jews. Most often, boys aged 13-15 were subjected to it. In the Kipsigi African tribe of Kenya, boys are brought one at a time to an elder who marks the spot on the foreskin where the incision will be made.
The boys then sit down on the ground. In front of each stands a father or older brother with a stick in his hand and demands that the boy look straight ahead. The ceremony is performed by an elder, he cuts off the foreskin in the marked place.
During the entire operation, the boy has no right not only to cry out, but also to show in general that he is in pain. It is very important. Indeed, before the ceremony, he received a special amulet from the girl with whom he was engaged. If now he screams in pain or winces, he will have to throw this amulet into the bushes - not a single girl will go for such a person. For the rest of his life, he will be a laughingstock in his village, because everyone will consider him a coward.
At Australian aborigines circumcision is a complex, multi-stage operation. First, a classical circumcision is performed - the initiate lies on his back, after which one of the elderly people pulls his foreskin as far as possible, while the other cuts off excess skin with a quick sweep of a sharp flint knife. When the boy recovers, the next, main operation takes place.
It is usually held at sunset. At the same time, the boy is not dedicated to the details of what will happen now. The boy is placed on a kind of table made up of the backs of two adult men. Then one of those who performs the operation pulls the boy's penis along the abdomen, and the other ... rips it along the ureter. Only now the boy can be considered a real man. Before the wound heals, the boy will have to sleep on his back.
Such ripped penises in Australian aborigines during an erection take on a completely different shape - they become flat and wide. At the same time, they are not suitable for urination, and Australian men relieve themselves by squatting.
But the most peculiar method is common among some peoples of Indonesia and Papua, such as the Bataks and Kiwais. It consists in the fact that a hole is made across the penis with a sharp piece of wood, where various objects can later be inserted, for example, metal - silver or, who is richer, gold sticks with balls on the sides. It is believed here that during intercourse this creates additional pleasure for the woman.
Not far from the coast of New Guinea, among the inhabitants of the island of Waigeo, the ritual of initiation into men is associated with abundant bloodletting, the meaning of which is "cleansing from filth." But first you need to learn how to ... play the sacred flute, and then clean the tongue with emery until it bleeds, because in deep childhood the young man sucked his mother's milk and thereby “defiled” the tongue.
And most importantly, it is necessary to “cleanse” after the first sexual intercourse, for which it is necessary to make a deep incision in the head of the penis, accompanied by profuse bleeding, the so-called “male menstruation”. But this is not the end of the torment!
The men of the Kagaba tribe have a custom according to which, during sexual intercourse, sperm should in no case fall to the ground, which is regarded as a grave insult to the gods, which means that it can lead to the death of the whole world. According to eyewitnesses, the "Kagabins" do not find anything better in order not to spill sperm on the ground, "like putting a stone under a man's penis."
But the young boys of the Kababa tribe from Northern Colombia, according to custom, are forced to have their first sexual intercourse with the ugliest, toothless and ancient old woman. It is no wonder that the men of this tribe have a strong aversion to sex for the rest of their lives and do not live well with legal wives.
In one of the Australian tribes, the custom of initiation into men, which is carried out with 14-year-old boys, is even more exotic. To prove his maturity to everyone, a teenager must sleep with his own mother. This ritual means the return of the young man to the mother's womb, which symbolizes death, and orgasm - rebirth.
In some tribes, the initiate must pass through the "toothed womb." The mother puts a mask of a terrible monster on her head, and inserts the jaw of some predator into her vagina. Blood from a wound on the teeth is considered sacred, it is used to lubricate the face and genitals of the young man.
Much more fortunate were the young men of the Wandu tribe. They can become a man only after they graduate from a special sex school, where a female sex instructor gives young men extensive theoretical and later practical training. Graduates of such a school, initiated into the secrets of sexual life, delight their wives with the full force of the sexual possibilities given to them by nature.
EXCORIATION
In many Bedouin tribes in the west and south of Arabia, despite the official ban, the custom of flaying the skin from the penis has been preserved. This procedure consists in the fact that the skin of the penis is cut along its entire length and torn off, as they are torn off the skin from an eel during cutting.
Boys from ten to fifteen years of age consider it a matter of honor not to utter a single cry during this operation. The participant in the action is exposed, and the slave manipulates his penis until an erection occurs, after which the operation is performed.
WHEN TO WEAR A HAT?
The young men of the Kabiri tribe in modern Oceania, having reached maturity and having passed severe trials, are entitled to put on their heads a pointed cap, smeared with lime, decorated with feathers and flowers; it is glued to the head and even go to bed in it.
YOUNG FIGHTER COURSE
Like many other tribes, among the Bushmen, the initiation of the boy is also carried out after his preliminary training in hunting and worldly skills. And most often young people go through this science of life in the forest.
After completing the "course of a young fighter", the boy is made deep incisions over the bridge of the nose, where they rub the ashes of the burnt tendons of a pre-killed antelope. And, of course, he must endure this entire painful procedure in silence, as befits a real man.
BITIE EDUCATES COURAGE
In the African Fulani tribe, during a male initiation ceremony called "soro", each teenager was hit several times with a heavy club on the back or chest. The subject had to endure this execution in silence, without betraying any pain. Subsequently, the longer the marks of beatings remained on his body and the more terrible he looked, the more respect he gained among his fellow tribesmen as a man and a warrior.
SACRIFICE TO THE GREAT SPIRIT
Among the Mandans, the rite of initiation of young men into men consisted in the fact that the initiate was wrapped with ropes, like a cocoon, and hung on them until he lost consciousness.
In this insensible (or lifeless, as they put it) state, he was laid on the ground, and when he came to his senses, he crawled on all fours to the old Indian, who was sitting in a medical hut with an ax in his hands and a buffalo skull in front of him. The young man raised the little finger of his left hand as a sacrifice to the great spirit, and he was cut off (sometimes along with the index finger).
LIME INITIATION
Among the Malaysians, the ritual of entering into a secret male union ingyet was as follows: during the initiation, a naked elderly man, smeared from head to toe with lime, held the end of the mat, and gave the other end to the subject. Each of them in turn pulled the mat towards himself until the old man fell on the newcomer and had sexual intercourse with him.
INITIATION AT ARANDA
Among the Aranda, initiation was divided into four periods, with gradually increasing complexity of the rites. The first period is relatively harmless and simple manipulations performed on the boy. The main procedure was to toss it into the air.
Before that, it was smeared with fat, and then painted. At this time, the boy was given certain instructions: for example, not to play with women and girls anymore and to prepare for more serious tests. At the same time, the boy's nasal septum was drilled.
The second period is the circumcision ceremony. It was carried out on one or two boys. All members of the clan participated in this action, without the invitation of outsiders. The ceremony lasted about ten days, and during all this time the members of the tribe danced, performed various ritual actions in front of the initiates, the meaning of which was immediately explained to them.
Some of the rites were performed in the presence of women, but when they started circumcision, they ran away. At the end of the operation, the boy was shown sacred object- a wooden tablet on a string, which the uninitiated could not see, and explained its meaning, with a warning to keep it secret from women and children.
For some time after the operation, the initiate spent some time away from the camp, in the thickets of the forest. Here he received a whole series of instructions from the leaders. He was inspired by the rules of morality: not to commit bad deeds, not to walk along the "road of women", to observe food prohibitions. These prohibitions were quite numerous and painful: it was forbidden to eat the meat of an opossum, the meat of a kangaroo rat, the tail and rump of a kangaroo, the insides of an emu, snakes, any water bird, young game, and so on and so forth.
He was not supposed to break bones to extract the brain, and eat a little soft meat. In a word, the most delicious and nutritious food was forbidden to the initiate. At this time, living in the thickets, he learned a special secret language, which he spoke with men. Women could not approach him.
Some time later, before returning to the camp, a rather painful operation was performed on the boy: several men bit his head in turn; it was believed that after that hair would grow better.
The third stage is the release of the initiate from maternal care. He did this by throwing a boomerang in the direction of finding the maternal "totemic center".
The last, most difficult and solemn stage of initiation is the engvura ceremony. The trial by fire occupied a central place in it. Unlike the previous stages, the whole tribe and even guests from neighboring tribes participated here, but only men: two hundred or three hundred people gathered. Of course, such an event was arranged not for one or two initiates, but for a large party of them. The festivities lasted a very long time, several months, usually between September and January.
During the whole time, religious thematic rites were performed in a continuous series, mainly for the edification of the initiates. In addition, various other ceremonies were arranged, partly symbolizing the break of initiates with women and their transition into a group of full-fledged men. One of the ceremonies consisted, for example, of the initiates walking past the women's camp; at the same time, women threw burning brands at them, and the initiates defended themselves with branches. After that, a feigned attack on the women's camp was arranged.
Finally, it was time for the main test. It consisted in the fact that a large fire was lit, it was covered with damp branches, and the initiated young men lay down on top of them. They had to lie there, completely naked, in the heat and smoke, without moving, without screaming and moaning, for four or five minutes.
It is clear that the fiery ordeal demanded from the young man great endurance, willpower, but also uncomplaining obedience. But they prepared for all this by lengthy previous training. This test was repeated twice. One of the researchers describing this action adds that when he tried to kneel down on the same green floor above the fire for the experiment, he was forced to immediately jump up.
Of the subsequent rites, a mocking roll call between initiates and women, arranged in the dark, is interesting, and in this verbal duel not even the usual restrictions and rules of decency were observed. Then emblematic images were painted on their backs. Further, the fiery test was repeated in an abbreviated form: small fires were lit in the women's camp, and the young men knelt on these fires for half a minute.
Before the end of the festival, dances were again arranged, the exchange of wives, and, finally, the ritual offering of food to those dedicated to their leaders. After that, the participants and guests gradually dispersed to their camps, and that was the end of it: from that day on, all prohibitions and restrictions on initiates were lifted.
TRAVEL… ZUBA
During the ceremony of initiation, some tribes have a custom to remove one or more front teeth from boys. Moreover, certain magical actions are subsequently carried out with these teeth. So, among some tribes of the Darling River region, a knocked-out tooth was thrust under the bark of a tree growing near a river or a hole with water.
If the tooth became overgrown with bark or fell into the water, there was no cause for concern. But if he protruded outside, and ants ran over him, then the young man, according to the natives, was threatened with a disease of the oral cavity.
Murring and other tribes of New South Wales first entrusted the care of a knocked-out tooth to one of the old men, who passed it on to another, that to a third, and so on, until, having circled the whole community, the tooth returned to the father of the young man and, finally, to himself. young man. At the same time, none of those who kept the tooth should have put it in a bag with "magic" items, since it was believed that in otherwise the owner of the tooth will be in great danger.
YOUTH VAMPIRISM
There was a custom among some Australian tribes from the Darling River, according to which, after the ceremony on the occasion of reaching maturity, the young man did not eat anything for the first two days, but only drank blood from the veins opened on the hands of his friends who voluntarily offered this food to him.
Putting a ligature on the shoulder, opened a vein with inside forearms and released blood into a wooden vessel or into a piece of bark, which had the shape of a dish. The young man, kneeling in his bed of fuchsia branches, leaned forward, holding his hands behind him, and licked the blood from the vessel placed in front of him with his tongue, like a dog. Later, he is allowed to eat meat and drink duck blood.
AIR INITIATION
Among the Mandan tribe, belonging to the group North American Indians, the rite of passage is probably the most cruel. It happens as follows.
The initiate first gets on all fours. After that, one of the men, with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, pulls back about an inch of flesh on his shoulders or chest and clamped in right hand with a knife, on the double-edged blade of which, to increase the pain caused by another knife, notches and notches are applied, pierces the retracted skin. His assistant standing next to him inserts a peg or hairpin into the wound, the supply of which he keeps ready in his left hand.
Then several men of the tribe, having climbed in advance to the roof of the room in which the ceremony takes place, lower two thin ropes through the holes in the ceiling, which are tied to these hairpins, and begin to pull the initiate up. This continues until his body is lifted off the ground.
After that, the skin on each arm below the shoulders and on the legs below the knees is pierced with a knife, and hairpins are also inserted into the resulting wounds, and ropes are tied to them. For them, initiates are pulled even higher. After that, on the hairpins sticking out of the limbs flowing with blood, the observers hang the bow, shield, quiver belonging to the young man passing the rite, etc.
Then the victim is again pulled up until it hangs in the air so that not only its own weight, but also the weight of the weapon hung on the limbs, falls on those parts of the body to which the ropes are attached.
And so, overcoming exorbitant pain, covered with dried blood, the initiates hung in the air, biting their tongues and lips so as not to utter the slightest groan and triumphantly pass this highest test of strength of character and courage.
When the elders of the tribe, who led the initiation, considered that the young men had adequately endured this part of the rite, they ordered their bodies to be lowered to the ground, where they lay without visible signs of life, slowly recovering.
But the torment of the initiates did not end there. They had to pass one more test: "the last run", or in the language of the tribe - "eh-ke-nah-ka-nah-peak."
Each of the young men was assigned two older and physically strong men. They took up positions on either side of the initiate and grasped the free ends of the wide leather straps tied around his wrists. And heavy weights were hung to the hairpins penetrating various parts of the body of the young man.
On command, the escorts began to run. in wide circles, dragging his ward with him. The procedure continued until the victim passed out from blood loss and exhaustion.
ANTS DETERMINE…
In the Amazonian Mandruku tribe, there was also a kind of sophisticated torture-initiation. At first glance, the tools used in its implementation looked quite harmless. They were like two, deaf at one end, cylinders, which were made from the bark of a palm tree and had a length of about thirty centimeters. Thus, they resembled a pair of huge, crudely made mittens.
The initiate put his hands into these cases and, accompanied by onlookers, who usually consisted of members of the whole tribe, began a long tour of the settlement, stopping at the entrance to each wigwam and performing a kind of dance.
However, these gauntlets were actually not as harmless as they might seem. For inside each of them was a whole collection of ants and other stinging insects, selected on the basis of the greatest pain caused by their bites.
In other tribes, a gourd bottle with ants is also used for dedication. But a candidate member of the society of adult men does not make a round of the settlement, but stands still until the wild dances tribe to the accompaniment of wild cries. After the young man has endured the ritual "torture", his shoulders are decorated with feathers.
TISSUE OF GROWTH
In the South American Ouna tribe, the "ant test" or "wasp test" is also used. To do this, ants or wasps stick into a special mesh fabric, often depicting some fantastic quadruped, fish or bird.
The whole body of the young man is wrapped in this cloth. From this torture, the young man faints, and in an unconscious state he is carried to a hammock, to which he is tied with ropes; and a small fire burns under the hammock.
It remains in this position for one to two weeks and can only eat cassava bread and small varieties. smoked fish. Even in the use of water there are restrictions.
This torture is preceded by a magnificent dance festival that lasts several days. Guests come in masks and huge headdresses with beautiful feather mosaics, and in various decorations. During this carnival, the young man is beaten.
LIVE NET
A number of Caribbean tribes also used ants during the initiations of boys. But before that, young people with the help of a tusk of a wild boar or the beak of a toucan were scratched to the point of blood on the chest and skin of the hands.
And only after that they began to torture with ants. The priest who carried out this procedure had a special device similar to a grid, in the narrow loops of which 60-80 large ants were placed. They were placed so that their heads, armed with long sharp stingers, were located on one side of the net.
At the moment of initiation, the net with ants was pressed against the boy's body, and kept in this position until the insects stuck to the skin of the unfortunate victim.
During this ritual, the priest applied the net to the chest, arms, lower abdomen, back, back of the thighs and calves of the defenseless boy, who was not supposed to express his suffering in any way.
It should be noted that in these tribes, girls are also subjected to a similar procedure. They must also endure the stings of angry ants calmly. The slightest groan, a painful distortion of the face deprives the unfortunate victim of the opportunity to communicate with the elders. Moreover, she is subjected to the same operation until she courageously endures it without showing any the slightest sign pain.
PILLAR OF COURAGE
An equally cruel test had to be endured by young people from the North American Cheyenne tribe. When the boy reached the age when he could become a warrior, his father tied him to a pole that stood near the road along which the girls walked for water.
But they tied the young man in a special way: parallel incisions were made in the pectoral muscles, and belts made of raw leather were stretched along them. With these straps, the young man was tied to a pole. And not just tied, but left alone, and he had to free himself.
Most of the youths leaned back, pulling on the straps with the weight of their bodies, causing them to cut into the flesh. Two days later, the tension of the belts weakened, and the young man was released.
The more courageous grabbed hold of the straps with both hands and pulled them back and forth, thanks to which they were released after a few hours. The young man, thus freed, was praised by all, and he was looked upon as a future leader in the war. After the young man had freed himself, he was brought into the hut with great honor and looked after with great care.
On the contrary, while he remained tied, the women, passing him with water, did not speak to him, did not offer to quench their thirst, and did not provide any help.
However, the young man had the right to ask for help. Moreover, he knew that it would be immediately rendered to him: they would immediately speak to him and set him free. But at the same time, he remembered that this would be a lifelong punishment for him, because from now on he would be considered a “woman”, dressed in women's dress and forced to do women's work; he will not have the right to hunt, carry weapons and be a warrior. And, of course, no woman would want to marry him. Therefore, the vast majority of Cheyenne youths endure this cruel torture in a Spartan way.
WOUNDED SKULL
In some African tribes during initiation after the circumcision ritual, an operation is performed to inflict small wounds over the entire surface of the skull until blood appears. Initially, the purpose of this operation was clearly to make holes in the cranial bone.
ROLE GAME ASMATS
If, for example, the Mandruku and Ouna tribes use ants for initiation, then the Asmats from Irian Jaya cannot do without human skulls during the ceremony of initiating boys into men.
At the beginning of the ritual in a special way a painted skull is placed between the legs of a young man passing through the initiation, who sits naked on the bare floor in a special hut. At the same time, he must constantly press the skull to his genitals, keeping his eyes on him for three days. It is considered that during this period the entire sexual energy skull owner.
When the first ritual is completed, the young man is led to the sea, where a canoe awaits him under sail. Accompanied and led by his uncle and one of his close relatives, the young man sets off towards the sun, where, according to legend, the ancestors of the Asmats live. The skull at this time lies in front of him at the bottom of the canoe.
During a sea voyage, a young man is supposed to play several roles. First of all, he must be able to behave like an old man, and so weak that he can’t even stand on his own legs and falls all the time to the bottom of the boat. The adult accompanying the young man each time raises him, and then, at the end of the ritual, throws him into the sea along with the skull. This act symbolizes the death of the old man and the birth of a new man.
The subject must also cope with the role of an infant who can neither walk nor speak. In playing this role, the young man demonstrates how grateful he is to his close relative for helping him pass the test. When the boat approaches the shore, the young man will already behave like an adult man and bear two names: his own and the name of the owner of the skull.
That is why it was very important for the Asmat, who gained the nasty popularity of ruthless "skull hunters", to know the name of the person they killed. The skull, whose owner's name is unknown, was turned into an unnecessary item, and it could not be used in initiation ceremonies.
The following incident, which took place in 1954, can serve as an illustration of the above statement. Three foreigners were guests in one Asmat village, and locals invited them to a meal. Although the Asmats were hospitable people, nevertheless, they looked at the guests primarily as "carriers of skulls", intending to deal with them during the holiday.
First, the hosts sang a solemn song in honor of the guests, and then asked them to give their names in order to allegedly insert them into the text of the traditional chant. But as soon as they named themselves, they immediately lost their heads.
In the modern world on Earth, every year there are fewer and fewer secluded places where the foot of civilization has not set foot. She comes everywhere. And wild tribes are often forced to change the places of their settlements. Those of them that make contact with the civilized world are gradually disappearing. They, libor dissolve in modern society or simply die out.
The thing is, centuries of life in complete isolation did not allow the immune system of these people to develop properly. Their body has not learned to produce antibodies that can resist the most common infections. A common cold can be fatal for them.
Nevertheless, anthropological scientists continue to study, as far as possible, wild tribes. After all, each of them is nothing but a model of the ancient world. A kind of possible version of human evolution.
Piahu Indians
The way of life of wild tribes, in general, fits into the framework of our understanding of primitive people. They live mostly in polygamous families. They are engaged in hunting and gathering. But the way of thinking and the language of some of them is able to amaze any civilized imagination.
Once, the famous anthropologist, linguist and preacher Daniel Everett went to the Amazonian tribe of Piraha for scientific and missionary purposes. First of all, he was struck by the language of the Indians. It had only three vowels and seven consonants. They did not have the slightest idea of the only and plural. In their language there were no numerals at all. And why would they need them, if the Piraha did not even have a clue about more and less. It also turned out that the people of this tribe live outside of all time. He was alien to such concepts as the present, past and future. In general, the polyglot Everett had a very difficult time learning the language of Pirahu.
Everett's missionary mission was in for a big embarrassment. First, the savages asked the preacher if he personally knew Jesus. And when they found out that they had not been, they immediately lost all interest in the Gospel. And when Everett told them that God himself created man, they completely fell into complete bewilderment. This bewilderment could be translated something like this: “What are you? Such a fool is not how people are made?
As a result, after visiting this tribe, the unfortunate Everett, according to him, almost turned from a convinced Christian into a complete one.
Cannibalism still exists
Some wild tribes also have cannibalism. Now cannibalism among savages is not as common as about a hundred years ago, but still cases of eating their own kind are not rare. The most successful in this business are the savages of the island of Borneo, they are famous for their cruelty and promiscuity. These cannibals eat with pleasure, and tourists. Although the last outbreak of kakkibalizma dates back to the beginning of the last century. now this phenomenon among savage tribes is episodic.
But in general, according to scientists, the fate of wild tribes on Earth has already been decided. In just a few decades, they will finally disappear.
Surprisingly, in our age of atomic energy, laser guns and the exploration of Pluto, there are still primitive people who are almost unaware of the outside world. Scattered all over the earth, except Europe, great amount such tribes. Some live in complete isolation, perhaps not even knowing about the existence of other "bipeds". Others know and see more, but are in no hurry to make contact. And still others are ready to kill any stranger.
What about us civilized people? Trying to "make friends" with them? Should you watch them carefully? Completely ignore?
Just in these days, disputes resumed when the authorities of Peru decided to make contact with one of the lost tribes. Aboriginal defenders are strongly against it, because after contact they can die from diseases to which they have no immunity: it is not known whether they will agree to medical care.
Let's see what in question, and what other tribes infinitely far from civilization are found in the modern world.
1. Brazil
It is in this country that most non-contact tribes live. In just 2 years, from 2005 to 2007, their confirmed number increased by 70% at once (from 40 to 67), and today more than 80 are already on the lists of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI).
There are extremely small tribes, only 20-30 people each, others can number as many as 1.5 thousand. At the same time, all together they make up less than 1% of the population of Brazil, but the "original lands" assigned to them are 13% of the country's territory (green spots on the map). 
To search for and account for isolated tribes, authorities periodically fly around the dense forests of the Amazon. So in 2008, hitherto unknown savages were seen near the border with Peru. First, anthropologists noticed from the plane their huts, similar to elongated tents, as well as half-naked women and children. 
But during a repeated flight a few hours later, men with spears and bows, painted red from head to toe, and the same warlike woman, all black, appeared at the same place. They probably mistook the plane for an evil bird spirit. 
Since then, the tribe has remained unexplored. Scientists only guess that it is very numerous and prosperous. The photo shows that people are generally healthy and well-fed, their baskets are full of roots and fruits, from the plane they even noticed something like orchards. It is possible that this people has existed for 10,000 years and since then has kept primitive. 
2. Peru
But the very tribe with which the Peruvian authorities want to make contact is the Mashko-Piro Indians, who also live in the wilderness of the Amazonian forests in the territory of the Manu National Park in the southeast of the country. They used to always reject outsiders, but in last years often began to leave the thicket in the "outside world". In 2014 alone, they were spotted more than 100 times in populated areas, especially along the banks of the river, from where they pointed to passers-by. 
“It seems that they themselves are making contact, and we cannot pretend that we do not notice this. They also have the right to do so,” the government says. They emphasize that in no case will the tribe be forced either to contact or to change their lifestyle. 
Officially, Peruvian law forbids contact with lost tribes, of which there are at least a dozen in the country. But many have already managed to “talk” with Mashko-Piro, from ordinary tourists to Christian missionaries, who shared clothes and food with them. Maybe also because there is no punishment for violating the ban. 
True, not all contacts were peaceful. In May 2015, mashko-piros came to one of the local villages and, having met the inhabitants, attacked them. One guy was killed on the spot, pierced by an arrow. In 2011, members of the tribe killed another local and wounded a national park ranger with arrows. Authorities hope the contact will help prevent future deaths.
This is probably the only civilized Indian Mashko-Piro. As a child, local hunters stumbled upon him in the jungle and took him with them. Since then, he has been named Alberto Flores. 
3. Andaman Islands (India)
A tiny island of this archipelago in the Bay of Bengal between India and Myanmar is inhabited by extremely hostile to the outside world, the Sentinelese. Most likely, these are the direct descendants of the first Africans who ventured to leave the black continent about 60,000 years ago. Since then, this small tribe has been engaged in hunting, fishing and gathering. How they make fire is unknown. 
Their language is not identified, but judging by its striking difference from all other Andamanese dialects, these people did not come into contact with anyone for thousands of years. The size of their community (or scattered groups) is also not established: presumably, from 40 to 500 people. 
The Sentinelese are typical Negritos, as ethnologists call them: rather short people with very dark, almost black skin and short, fine curls of hair. Their main weapons are spears and bows with different types arrows Observations have shown that they accurately hit the target of human growth from a distance of 10 meters. Any outsiders are considered enemies by the tribe. In 2006, they killed two fishermen who were sleeping peacefully in a boat that accidentally washed up on their shore, and then met a search helicopter with a hail of arrows. 
There were only a few "peaceful" contacts with the Sentinelese in the 1960s. Once, coconuts were left on the shore for them to see if they would plant them or eat them. - Ate. Another time they "gave" live pigs - the savages immediately killed them and ... buried them. The only thing that seemed useful to them was red buckets, as they were hurried to carry them deep into the island. And exactly the same green buckets were not touched. 
But you know what is the strangest and most inexplicable thing? Despite their primitiveness and extremely primitive shelters, the Sentinelese generally survived the terrible earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. But along the entire coast of Asia, almost 300 thousand people died then, which made it disaster deadliest in modern history! 
4. Papua New Guinea
The vast island of New Guinea in Oceania holds many unexplored secrets. Its hard-to-reach mountainous regions, covered with dense forests, only seem uninhabited - in fact, they are native home for many non-contact tribes. Due to the peculiarities of the landscape, they are hidden not only from civilization, but also from each other: it happens that there are only a few kilometers between two villages, but they are unaware of the neighborhood. 
The tribes live in such isolation that each has its own customs and its own language. Just think - linguists distinguish about 650 Papuan languages, and in total more than 800 languages are spoken in this country! 
The same differences may be in their culture and way of life. Some tribes turn out to be relatively peaceful and generally friendly, like a nation funny to our ears. fuck, which Europeans learned about only in 1935. 
But the most sinister rumors circulate about others. There were cases when members of expeditions specially equipped to search for Papuan savages disappeared without a trace. This is how one of the richest American family members, Michael Rockefeller, disappeared in 1961. He separated from the group and is suspected to have been caught and eaten. 
5. Africa
At the junction of the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan, several nationalities live, numbering about 200 thousand people, who are collectively called Surma. They raise cattle, but do not roam and share a common culture with very cruel and strange traditions. 
Young men, for example, for the sake of winning brides, arrange stick fights, which can result in serious injuries and even death. And the girls, decorating themselves for a future wedding, remove their lower teeth, pierce their lip and stretch it so that a special plate fits there. The larger it is, the more cattle will be given for the bride, so that the most desperate beauties manage to squeeze in a 40-centimeter dish! 
True, in recent years, the youth of these tribes began to learn something about the outside world, and that’s all. more girls surma now refuse such a ritual of "beauty". However, women and men continue to adorn themselves with curly scars, which they are very proud of. 
In general, the acquaintance of these peoples with civilization is very uneven: for example, they remain illiterate, but quickly mastered the AK-47 assault rifles that came to them during the civil war in Sudan. 
And one more interesting detail. The first people from outside world Those who came into contact with Surma in the 1980s were not Africans, but a group of Russian doctors. The natives then got scared, mistaking them for the walking dead - after all, they had never seen white skin before!
