Title: Hamar Cow Jumping –
Ethiopia
Topic: Rites
of passage
Relation: The
concept of rites of passage introduced by Arnold van
Gennep in chapter 6 of ANTHRO pages 139-140
Source: My
information comes from Jamie Frater’s “10 Bizarre Rites of Passage” and the site of Indians4Africa.com
Description: The
post, written by Jamie Frater, that I found firstly tells us “Rites of passage
in adolescence are a cross-cultural phenomenon.” Frater gave the information of
10 exotic rites of passage in the world. However, I focused on the one of the
Ethiopian tribe Hamar’s ritual called “Cow Jumping. “ 12-15 years of boys have
to go through this ceremonial to get permission from father in law in order to
marry with girls. Those men have to jump four cattle stood in a row
successfully. When Hamar boys succeed to pass this test, they earn respect and are able participate in
the Hamar women-beating ritual that proves that Hamar girls show their devotion
to their men.
Commentary/Analysis: Arnold van Gennep introduces the concept of rites of passage in ANTHRO (139). He says there are three phases of rites of passage: separation, transition, and incorporation. However, I found out that Hamar’s cow jumping is related with what Gennep says. Particularly, the cow jumping was associated with the transition and the incorporation phases. It is because the Hamar’s ceremony is one of the ways to prove that young boys are on the way of being men. Also, this ritual emphasizes in marriage ceremonies. “We are not born with an identity; it is something we learn…In all societies, people are constantly changing their identities as they move through the life cycle.” (RR 139) It is true that we are getting to know ourselves constantly from the three phases that Gennep explains to us.
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