African peoples: their way of life and living conditions

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

The mysterious "dark continent", called Africa, is considered the most mysterious place on the planet all over the world. The unique nature and wildlife, the originality of this place, attracts researchers and tourists from all over the world. Of greatest interest are the wild peoples of Africa, with their unique customs and way of life. The article discusses the features of the social organization of the peoples of the African continent and several indigenous tribes.

Mursi Tribes

Mursi are the wildest people of the "black continent", as no logic can explain their way of life. Alcohol is very popular among the people of this tribe and they actively abuse it, which ultimately leads to negative consequences. So, representatives of this people cannot control themselves and may well, in a fit of aggression, beat their fellow tribesman to death in order to prove their strength to the tribe.

Peculiarities of Mursi's life

The living conditions of the African people Mursi surprise absolutely all representatives of the civilized world. The inhabitants of this peoplevery unfriendly towards guests. And it doesn't matter at all whether they are tourists or members of a neighboring tribe - they are met with weapons in their hands. Thus, the Mursi show their dominance in the territory. The most remarkable is the aggressive disposition of the women of this people. In addition, they have a rather repulsive appearance. Sagging bellies and chest, stoop, lack of hair. It is because of this that many representatives of the female half of the people wear hats on their heads, consisting of branches, animal skins and various dried insects. Absolutely all the people of this African people smell bad. This is because the Mursi use a homemade ointment that has an unbearable aroma and is designed to protect them from all sorts of parasites and insects.

The main distinguishing feature of the Mursi people is the giant lower lip, in which, as a rule, a clay saucer with a diameter of up to 30 centimeters is installed. This custom has been observed since ancient times. Women, even in early adolescence, begin to insert sticks into their mouths, gradually stretching their lower lip. With the passage of age, the size of the stick increases in order to eventually achieve the desired result. In this case, the size of the lips is of great importance in the life of a girl. The volume of the plate inserted into it determines the amount of the ransom that the relatives will receive for the bride.

Another inexplicable feature of this African people is women's body jewelry, which is created from human limbs, in particular, finger phalanges are used. Such a "decoration"It has a very unpleasant odor and is smeared with lard every day. The material for such "jewellery" is taken from the fingers of delinquent men. For certain deeds, the priestess can give the order to cut off the limbs or phalanxes of the fingers, depending on the severity of the deed. Men, on the other hand, form their reputation by applying ritual scars to the body. When a tribal warrior kills an enemy, he marks himself with a knife. The more such ritual scars he has, the higher the degree of respect for him in the tribe. It is noteworthy that scarification is also popular among the women of the Mursi people, but this is not of a ritual nature. They inflict scars solely on their own, for beauty. Women make an incision in the skin, then the wound is treated with the juice of poisonous plants. As a result of these actions, the skin becomes infected, and pimples appear on it. This is how beautiful ornaments appear on the hands of girls.

Besides the amazing lifestyle, the unique feature of the Mursi is their faith - animism. The female half of the people daily receives poisonous and narcotic substances from the high priestess of love. What is received is given to husbands, most of whom do not survive even one reception. In this case, the image of a white cross is applied to the girl's lip plate, which means honor and respect for her. It is believed that in this way the woman fulfilled the mission of the god of death Yamda. For her, this, above all, means burial with honors, which is important, since the Mursi practice cannibalism, eating their dead.

Masai people

The life of the African Masai people takes place in Kenya and Tanzania. Today their number is up to a million people. The Masai refer to themselves as "the most powerful tribes in Africa." They do not respect any state borders and move freely across Africa in search of better living conditions.

Traditions and way of life of the Masai tribes

This numerous African people feeds mainly on the blood and milk of cattle, both domesticated and wild. They believe that all the animals of the world were given to them by the god Engai. Therefore, theft and damage to the livestock of neighboring tribes is a common thing for them. They pierce an artery and drink the blood of animals, after which the hole is covered with manure so that it can be used again.

Masai are a wild people whose breeding is quite common. Families are distinguished by their large number, as a lot of children are born in them. Women are engaged in the upbringing of children, housekeeping and construction of dwellings. Men have the right to have as many wives as they want, so duties are usually not a burden on the fair sex.

The strongest representatives of the tribes protect the territory that the Maasai consider their own. They spend their free time traveling through the savannah and talking with their fellow tribesmen. A notable feature of this people is that the beauty and dominance of the male representatives is determined from a physiological sign - the size of the earlobe, in which all kinds ofdecorations. The larger the lobe, the higher the status of the man in the tribe. Some representatives have lobes hanging down to the very shoulders.

Today, the Masai people are in a precarious position due to persecution by the authorities. They are evicted from the inhabited territories, caught and imprisoned. The authorities explain this by saying that the territories inhabited by the Masai tribes are reserved.

Hamer Tribes

This people is rightfully considered one of the wildest tribes in Africa, since their development stopped hundreds of years ago. Representatives of the Hamer people do not know what feelings, love, emotions are. Sexual contact between a woman and a man occurs only for procreation.

The lifestyle of the Hamer people

Representatives of this tribe live in huts, but they sleep exclusively in dug holes in which they lie down and cover themselves with a small layer of soil. This is done in order to achieve the effect of asphyxia, from which they enjoy.

Surprising among the people of Hamer is the ritual of initiation into men. To obtain this status, a young male member of the tribe must run over the backs of four animals while being completely naked. In addition, the relationships in the family and the Hamer tribe are also unusual. A leather collar with a handle is put on a girl who has just married. "Accessory" is necessary in order to take a woman to a daily spanking, which is carried out using a rod made ofcane. This ritual is considered sacred, and both spouses experience incredible bliss from it. Due to the virtual absence of sexual relations between spouses, there are frequent cases of same-sex sexual relations between women in the tribe.

Hamer today are considered the wildest of all the tribes and peoples that inhabited the African continent.