Kenyan Safari: I LOVE TIRIKI TRADITIONS!! (circumcision ceremonies)

My first five weeks at site I was welcomed with the Luhya-tiriki tradition of the circumcision ceremonies. They only take place once every five years and the communities basically shut-down for about a month while the male-community elders take the boys (ranging in ages from 4-15) are taken into the woods to be circumcised, to heal, and to be taught how to be a man. I wasn't allowed anywhere near the woods, no woman is. But, before they started their transformation into manhood, there was a "pre-circumcision" ceremony where the boys are led by their elders to dance with their families and community... naked. Well technically they are wearing a special plant in the form of a crown on their heads and if I (or anyone) were to cross their path while they were wearing these leaves, I would be cursed.

(here is one of the "not as" revealing pictures of the boys in their ceremonial outfits)

(here are a couple of the "elders" as they prepare the crowd

and lead the boys into the dancing circle)

(here is me dancing with one of the "elders"... my favorite part of this picture is the crowd of mama's in the background. They love to see me participating in the culture. They now call me omukhana wefwe [our daughter])

After a couple of weeks in the forrest, the boys and the elders return to the village in their masks and cow-hide clothing to dance again with their families and community. The boys who have healed will dance, while the ones who are still healing just walk. But, I believe there is some kind of symbolism in that their costumes are all the same and you cannot distinguish one boy from the next, except that their families will tie things to their masks and cow-hides (like records, cds, funnels) so that they can find their own and dance with them.