Bull jumping

Bull jumping is practiced by the Hamer tribe (see another post). It is a right of passage for boys to be recognized as adults. Only after successfully completing this ritual will they be allowed to marry.
This is a whole community event that lasts a couple of days with lots of drinking and feasting provided by the family of the jumper. All the women of the village gather to sing and dance. The 1st picture shows this, but please see another post with a video of the singing and dancing. After a while, certain of the young men who have passed the ritual show up with sticks to whip the women who work hard to receive the lash. The 2nd picture captures this, and the 3rd picture shows that this isn't just a trivial ceremony. I'm told this is to show the boy who is jumping how much he is loved. The closer the relationship to the jumper, the more extensive the whipping.
While all this is going on, the boy who will jump arrives. He is the boy with the goat skin garment in the 4th picture. He is to Ng for this ceremony. It seems there are many reasons why he might be jumping so early.
After the whipping those same young men have their faces painted as in the 5th picture
While all that is going on, there is a lot of drinking and talking among the family and the elders to finalize the ok for the ceremony to take place.
As the time approaches, the women who have been continuing to sing and dance move to the bulls and sing around them. See the 6th picture.
The ceremony takes place near dusk. As the bulls are encircled by the watchers, the boy who is jumping goes among the bulls and selects the ones he will jump. That's the 7th picture. The bulls are lined up for the jumping as in the 8th picture.
Finally the main event. In the last 2 pictures, the boy is completing the ritual. There is another short post with a video of a bit of his effort.
And, yes, this is always done in the nude.Read more