Produced by Paul Reddish for BBC Television
Anthropologist Gilbert Herdt
High
in the mountains of New Guinea live the Sambia people, a war- like tribe whose
secret rituals of initiation are aimed at making their warriors courageous and
bold. Only because their culture is threatened have they allowed these initiation
rites to be documented on film.
This is a society where the roles of men and women are sharply delineated. They live in separate spaces in their round huts. A woman must crouch if she is in the same space as her husband. Her menstrual blood is considered a pollutant, damaging to her husband's vigor. Male children live with their mothers until they are old enough to move to the boys' house. For many, the separation from their mother is very painful.
When it is time for the boys to become men, they undergo a severe initiation. Each is assigned an older guardian who accompanies him during this process. They are thrashed, deprived of food and sleep and have ginger root rubbed into their wounds, which is very painful. The most secret part of the initiation are the sexual rites, which are described by several initiates.
Guardians of the Flute is a fascinating look at a society shaped by the ritualized distinction between male and female roles. For mature audiences.
American Anthropological Association, 1996
American Psychological Association, 1996
55 min. Video or DVD. Sale $395. Video rental $75.
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