The evening before a Samburu boy is circumcised,he must lean over his mother under a special ochred goatskin cape as she milks a cow that has not given birth more than twice. This milk will be kept overnight in a traditional wooden gourd-like container and will be poured over the boy's head just before he is circumcised early the next morning.
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Related Images
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A Samburu mother wears an ochred goatskin cape ready for milking a cow the evening before her son is circumcised. This distinctive cape is worn only at circumcision ceremonies. The milk must be drawn from a cow that has not given birth more than twice and will be poured over her son's head just before he is circumcised early the next morning.
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A Samburu mother shaves her sons head outside her home the day before he is circumcised.Round her neck hangs his nchipi, the distinctive decoration of every boy who participates in the circumcision ritual. The strings of blue beads terminate in large bronze coloured wings of a torpedo shaped beetle, Sterocera hildebrandti.
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A Samburu boy the day before his circumcision.He has daubed the right side of his face and body with white clay while drawing water from a source that never dries up. Each boy will carry for this purpose a new gourd shaped container made by his mother from hollowed out wood.
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Mothers rub animal fat into their sons cloaks to make them supple. This task is performed shortly before the boys set out on an arduous journey to collect sticks, staves and gum to make bows, blunt arrows and clubs after their circumcision.
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Kenya, Samburu District, South Horr, Samburu District, Kenya. The ritual helpers of two Samburu boys slaughter and skin rams the day before the boys are circumcised. The boys will sit on the skins while they are being circumcised.
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Dressed in his black goatskin cloak,a Samburu boy puts his bundle of sticks,staves and gum on the roof of his mother's house. He has collected these with other boys from a special type of Commiphora tree during an arduous journey on foot of up to 200 miles. After his circumcision,he will make them into bows,blunt arrows and clubs.
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Kenya, Samburu District, South Horr, Samburu District, Kenya. A ritual helper of a Samburu boy makes him new sandals the day before he is circumcised which he will wear for a month and then discard.
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The day before Samburu boys are circumcised in their lorora,(a purpose-built circumcision encampment),senior elders will bless the sharp instruments of every household,such as pangas and axes,by pouring a little milk over them as they intone a blessing. The instruments must be laid out on the oxhide upon which the boy of each household will be circumcised.
More Related Images
- Samburu initiates sing during the month after their circumcision. As their wounds heal, their dances become more energetic. Before long, they imitate the dances of the warriors which, hitherto, they have been forbidden to perform.They spend much of their time wandering in the countryside attempting to kill as many birds as they can with a club and four blunt arrows. When a bird is killed, it is sk
- Samburu initiates skin a bird without the use of a knife.While their wounds heal for a month after circumcision, initiates spend their time wandering in the countryside attempting to kill as many birds as they can with a club and four blunt arrows. When a bird is killed, it is skinned, stuffed with dry grass and attached to the boy's headband by means of its beak.
- A Samburu initiate takes aim at a bird with a blunt arrow.While their wounds heal for a month after circumcision, initiates spend their time wandering in the countryside attempting to kill as many birds as they can with a club and four blunt arrows. When a bird is killed, it is skinned without a knife, stuffed with dry grass and attached to the boys headband by means of its beak.
- A Samburu youth,his head freshly shaved,has milk poured over him from a wooden gourd-like container decorated with green grass prior to his circumcision. Milk and green grass are blessings to these pastoral people and feature in all important ceremonies.
- Kenya, South Horr, Kurungu.A Samburu youth after his circumcision. The day after he has been circumcised, the initiate must hang in his pierced earlobes copper ear ornaments that are normally worn by married women. His sponsors make him a new headdress of ostrich feathers fastened to a narrow band of plaited fibre, which fits tightly round his forehead like a sweatband.
- The ritual sponsors and friends of a Samburu initiate make him a bow,blunt arrows and a club from the sticks,staves and gum he collected before he was circumcised. He will use these weapons to kill birds for a month following his circumcision. Initiates are forbidden to carry knives during this time.
- The proud father of a Samburu boy who has recently been circumcised. For each son who has been initiated into the warrior age-set,a father will tie a strip of lion skin below his knees,hang two copper ornaments normally worn by women in his pierced earlobes and places a string of pale green beads round his forehead. A ceremonial leather cape is slung over his shoulder.
- In the weeks leading up to their circumcision, Samburu boys must wear charcoal-blackened cloaks, which are made from three goatskins by their mothers.They also style their hair in a tuft at the back of their skulls.The elders of the tribe harangue them frequently.Uncircumcised boys are considered children whatever their age.