The culture of the inhabitants within the
island of Vanuatu implements a unique coming of age ceremony where male members
must dive head first off of wooden platforms that stand as high as ninety-eight
feet up in the air. When members of the society jump, they do so with only a
line of vine wrapped around their ankles. Being that there is no guarantee for
their safe delivery to the ground, members face the possibility of serious
injury or death if there are any miscalculations with the jump or vine length.
Males as young as five years old (Watson 2010) start to participate in this
activity and as they increase in age, so do the platforms. This ceremony is
designed to test the manhood and bravery of the males within the community, and
when males at a young age participate for the first time, their mothers often
dispose of items relating to the divers’ childhood, signifying them coming of
age.
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