Ethiopia Donga stick fight Surma 20017

Decorative scarring on the body of a male Surma warrior

The Surma have some very interesting customs that are found rarely any other place on Earth.  Surma people take great honor in the amount of scars they endure.  Women slice their skin with a razor and place a thorn inside the wound to raise the skin.  This wound is subsequently left open to heal, and thus, after healing, it becomes a raised bump on the skin.  Men scar themselves in the same way after they kill an enemy from an opposing tribe.

This painful ritual is often done on children as well, as a way for young men to become accustomed to the blood and gore of this violence-based society.  These scars are almost like the modern world’s tattoos.

The Surma live a simple culture with little extravagant materials. However, the most expensive luxury is the art which they use for body painting, for men and women. They create vivid patterns with many colors, painting the entire body. The decorations have no actual symbolism, but rather are done for visual aesthetics.

Other decorations include making jewelry from beads, feathers, earrings, bracelets carved from copper, and of course the clay lip plates. Men make decorations of iron and leather for their necks or headbands for their favorite cattle.

Видео Ethiopia Donga stick fight Surma 20017 канала Melak Tadesse