Etoro people
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The Etoro, or Edolo, are a tribe and ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. Their territory comprises the southern slopes of Mt. Sisa, along the southern edge of the central mountain range of New Guinea, near the Papuan Plateau. They are well known among anthropologists because of ritual acts practiced between the young boys and men of the tribe. The Etoro believe that young males must ingest the semen of their elders to achieve adult male status and to properly mature and grow strong.[1]
The Etoro believe that they each contain a certain amount of life force, the highest concentrations of which are contained in semen. This life force passes to others through sexual relations. Women are seen to waste the life force if they do not get pregnant after sexual intercourse. As people get older, and their bodies weaken, this is attributed to a depletion of their life force.
In 2009, the National Geographic Society reported an estimate that there were fewer than 1668 speakers of the Etoro/Edolo language.[2]
Marriage
O'Neil and Kottak agree that most men marry and have heterosexual relations with their wives. The fear that heterosexual sex causes them to die earlier and the belief that homosexual sex prolongs life means that heterosexual relations are focused towards reproduction.[3]
See also
- Baruya people
- Pedophilia
- Rite of passage
- Edolo language
- Sambia people
- Kaluli people
- LGBT rights in Papua New Guinea
References
- ^ Henrich, Joseph; Heine, Steven; Norenzayan, Ara (2010). "The weirdest people in the world?" (PDF). Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 33 (2–3): 61–83, discussion 83–135. doi:10.1017/S0140525X0999152X. PMID 20550733.
- ^ "Papua New Guinea Expedition -- Enduring Voices Project, Endangered Languages, Map, Facts, Photos, Videos -- National Geographic". National Geographic. Summer 2009. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
- ^ O'Neil, Dennis. "Sex and Marriage: Homosexuality". Sex and Marriage: An Introduction to The Cultural Rules Regulating Sexual Access and Marriage. Retrieved 2016-06-20. [dead link]
- Knauft, Bruce M, What Ever Happened to Ritualized Homosexuality? Modern Sexual Subjects in Melanesia and Elsewhere, Annual Review of Sex Research, 2003. (Accessed Nov. 5, 2006)
- Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Cultural Anthropology, 12th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
- O'Neil, Dennis, SEX AND MARRIAGE: An Introduction to The Cultural Rules Regulating Sexual Access and Marriage, Behavioral Sciences Department website, Palomar College, San Marcos, California (Accessed Nov. 5, 2006)
- Kelly, Raymond, Witchcraft and Sexual Relations, In P. Brown, and G. Buchbinder (eds.), Man and Woman in the New Guinea Highlands, 1976 (no electronic version available)