The Baruya are a tribe in the highlands of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

. They have been studied since 1967 by anthropologist Maurice Godelier

Maurice Godelier

Born in Cambrai, France in 28 February 1934, Maurice Godelier is one of the most influential names in French anthropology. Directeur d'études at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales...

.

The Baruya are characterized by a strong inequality between males and females; all their organizations, institutions, and myths present male domination. They have a ritual in which boys give fellatio

Fellatio

Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...

 to young males and drink their semen, to 're-engender themselves prior to marriage'

Manhood Ritual

To achieve the status of manhood the young boys go through a ritual in which they drink the semen of young men. The ritual is a lengthy process and can be divided into four stages for the initiates:

Yivupbwaya

At the age of nine, young boys are taken from their mothers to become Yivupbwanya and as a result their women skirts are cut short at the front and removed from behind while their noses are pierced. At age eight they begin to ingest semen from older males twelve and up.

Kawetnya

At the age of twelve, the skirts are completely removed and replaced with a male multi-layered skirt and a narrow strip of bark is worn behind, and their noses are pierced with a large nose peg. They are also adorned with many other insignia representing an approach to manhood. The initiates are now known as Kawetnya.

Chawanya

At the age of sixteen, the boys reach the Chawanya stage where they are given a black feather and other insignia and at their initiation ceremony wear a hornbill and pig-tusk head dress. They are now referred to as the new warriors of the tribe.

Kalave

The final stage is achieved at the age of twenty, when the warriors now become Kalave or full warriors. They are given a white feather as the symbol of this stage.

External links

• Resources on the Baruya language
• Semen Warriors Of New Guinea