Naked African Tribes

Indigenous Tribes of Africa

Picture of a young Surma (Suri) warrior undergoing an initiation ceremony. This rite of passage is performed almost naked with the body painted with intricate designs using clay. The men carry sticks which are used in a "donga" or match involving stickfighting. Young unmarried girls observe the contests and select the victors in order to have relations with them. In the above picture, a young Surma man is participating in a tribal dance before the "donga" ceremony begins. During the Surma stickfighting ceremony, the men use six to eight foot poles to fight one another. This ritual is thought to have once functioned as a ritual used before attacking other tribes whose function was to enhance the hostile behavior of the warriors. Although various African tribes practice stickfighting, the ceremony is not inter-tribal with different tribes competing against one another. The ceremony is strictly intra-tribal with participants from various villages of the same African tribe taking part in the ritual.