Editing Initiation (section)

===Tribal===
[[File:Brooklyn Museum 2011.3.1 Bwami Hat for Kindi Level.jpg|thumb|This hat would only have been worn by initiates to Kindi, the highest level of [[Bwami]]. Tail hair of an elephant, a [[metaphor]] for Kindi, crowns the hat. European-made buttons began to replace [[cowrie shell]]s as prestige items on such Bwami [[paraphernalia]] as the Western presence grew in eastern Congo in the early twentieth century]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Sepik River initiations 1975.JPG|thumb|Resting after initiations, Korogo Village, Sepik River, [[Papua New Guinea]], 1975. Franz Luthi]] -->

Tribes often have initiations. The initiation done in the [[Bapedi]] tribe of South Africa is normally regarded as a stage where a boy is to be taught manhood and a girl to be taught womanhood. In many African tribes, initiation involves [[circumcision]]/[[genital mutilation]] of males and sometimes [[female genital cutting|circumcision]]/[[genital mutilation]] of females as well. Initiation is considered necessary for the individual to be regarded as a full member of the tribe. Otherwise, the individual may not be allowed to participate in ceremonies or even in social rituals such as marriage. A man will not be allowed to marry or have any special relationship with a woman who did not go to an initiation, because she is not considered to be a woman.

Initiation may be thought of as an event which may help teens prepare themselves to be good husbands and wives. Where modernization is occurring, initiation is not taken so seriously as before, although there are still certain areas which still perform initiations.
[[File:Etiopia - omo river valley DSC 2835 (40).jpg|thumb|left|The bull jumping ceremony of the [[Hamar people|Hamar]] tribe in Ethiopia]]

In some African tribes, boys take about 3–4 months participating in initiation rites and girls take about 1–2 months.

[[Australian Aboriginal]] tribes usually had long periods of time to help prepare adolescent boys, teaching them traditional lore before they were ready to attend large elaborate ceremonies at the time of initiation when they were finally recognized as full-fledged men in their society. Most tribes had circumcision and [[scarification]] as part of the male initiation rituals, while many [[Central Australian]] tribes also practiced [[subincision]].

A salient shared cultural feature of the Min peoples of the [[New Guinea Highlands]] is initiation into a secret male religious cult.<ref name="b332">{{Harvcoltxt|Brumbaugh|1980|p=332}}</ref> For example, the [[Urapmin people]] used to practice a type of male initiation known in [[Urapmin language|Urap]] as ''ban''.<ref name="r2001_904">{{Harvcoltxt|Robbins|2001|p=904}}</ref> These elaborate rituals were a central part of Urapmin social life.<ref name="b29">{{Harvcoltxt|Barker|2007|p=29}}</ref> The ''ban'' was a multistage process which involved beatings and manipulation of various objects.<ref name="r2001_904" /> At each stage, the initiate was offered revelations of secret knowledge (Urap: ''weng awem''), but at the next stage these would be shown to be false (Urap: ''famoul'').<ref name="r2001_904" /> These initiations were abandoned with the adoption of Christianity, and the Urap have expressed relief at no longer having to administer the beatings which were involved.<ref name="r1998_307-308">{{Harvcoltxt|Robbins|1998|pp=307–308}}</ref>
[[File:Tucandeira_ritual_-_panoramio.jpg|left|thumb|A young [[Mawé people|Sataré-Mawé]] with a rite of passage instrument]]
The [[Mawé people|Sateré-Mawé]] people of [[Brazil]] use intentional [[Paraponera clavata|bullet ant]] stings as part of their initiation rites to become warriors.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/travel/Holidays/Wildlife/article77936.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222144437/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/travel/Holidays/Wildlife/article77936.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 22, 2014 |newspaper=The Sunday Times | location=London | title=Bitten by the Amazon | first=Steve | last=Backshall | date=6 January 2008 | access-date=13 July 2013}}</ref>

Among the various [[Austronesian peoples]], [[head-hunting]] raids were strongly tied to the practice of [[tattoo]]ing. In head-hunting societies, tattoos were records of how many heads the warriors had taken in battle, and was part of the initiation rites into adulthood.<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeMello |first1=Margo |title=Inked: Tattoos and Body Art around the World |volume=1 |date=2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-076-8 |pages=272–274 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VmRyBAAAQBAJ |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726131020/https://books.google.com/books?id=VmRyBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Sande society]] in West Africa initiates girls into adulthood by rituals including [[female genital mutilation]].<ref>{{cite book |last=MacCormack |first=Carol P. |url=https://archive.org/details/beingfemalerepro0000inte |title=Bundu: Political Implications of Female Solidarity in a Secret Society |publisher=Mouton |year=1975 |isbn=0-202-01151-8 |editor=Dana Raphael |editor-link=Dana Raphael |location=The Hague |author-link=Bundu: Political Implications of Female Solidarity in a Secret Society}}</ref>