the Hamar - coming of age by jumping across a line of bulls

My first introduction to the Hamar was a gentle one, as we visited a small village, shared a beverage and politely took a small morsel each of the goat that was sacrificed in honour of visitors (which we paid for, of course) but which was then shared between the entire village.

The next day, however, showcased the other side of the Hamar people - men with painted faces, women with bells and horns, and a young male nervously contemplating his naked leaps over the backs of a row of bulls as the completion of his transition from boy to man.

On the way to the ceremony site, we passed some of the men applying the mud paints to their faces, these men being the 'Maza' - men who have successfully jumped the bulls, but who have not yet found a wife and settled down to start a family.  It is their role to help with the ceremony - for example to pull the bulls into line.

The ceremony site itself consisted simply of a small flat space partly up a hill, with a couple of small trees and rocks acting as 'frames'.  To one side was a bar area (under a thatched roof), where some older ladies were ladling the drink they'd brought with them into calabashes for sale; the drink being some kind of sorghum liquor.  

Whilst all of the women seem to still wear the traditional attire (with a few Western Tshirts here and there, sadly), and sport the traditional hairstyle which includes copious amounts of a reddish clay on the hair, many from the boy's extended family also wore bells around their legs, and carried horns, and they used both to make a lot of noise and build up the excitement as the afternoon progressed.

Another feature of the build-up to the jump is the whipping of young women's backs.  Something that I believe is now illegal, but the women expose their backs (sometimes showing scars from previous whippings) and beg the young Maza to whip them with soft tree branches.  I felt that the men were reluctant - certainly none appeared to derive any pleasure from the ritual - but the women show no sign of suffering and bear their marks proudly.  Apparently this shows their loyalty to their male family members, who are supposed to support the women they have whipped (financially or otherwise) if there is any need in the future.

The boy who was due to jump was being prepared.  His head had been partly shaved earlier in the day, and at some stage his body was smeared with sand, believed to wash away his sins.  Then there was a huddle of him and the elders, with some ritual I couldn't follow involving plant stems, but the result of which told them that he had to jump five times across the bulls' back.  There were some blessings done, and the Maza struggled to get the bulls into line ... and then finally everthing was ready for the boy to jump.

Of course he made it across (I think falls are rare), so everyone was happy!