The Hamer ethnic group (also spelt Hamar) occupies the south-western region of Ethiopia. They live in a fertile part of the Omo River where they farm and rear cattle.
The Hamer ethnic group is mostly made up of pastoralists and they greatly treasure their cattle. Till today, few of them have attended school.
It is not surprising to see both men and women of the tribe carrying AK47s as weapons to be used against cattle rustlers. Dif
ferent ethnic groups in Africa have different methods of initiating boys into manhood. For the Hamer community, it involves bull jumping.
The three day long rite of passage is quite important to the initiates and their families. The timing of the ceremony is determined by the man’s parents and it happens after harvest.
But if the initiate succeeds, he is set to get married to a girl his family chooses for him, have children and cattle. The initiate must leap over the backs of the bulls four times without fail. This
day is considered the most important day in the life of a man.
In the course of the initiation, the female relatives of the boy, this includes his mother and sisters, are flogged with canes. This is to show their support.
They beg the Mazas (the men that have undergone the bull leaping ritual) to flog them. Until their backs are bloodied
that’s when the flogging stops. During the flogging, not a single weeping sound or cry is made.
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