Every boy in the Hamer tribe must undergo the bull jumping ceremony in order to transition into manhood and marry.
Before the ceremony, the female relatives of the young man go to meet the Maza, men who have just passed the bull-jumping ceremony and who temporarily live apart from the rest of the tribe. They demand to be whipped by these men as a way of showing their dedication and loyalty towards their male relatives. The idea here is to create a strong bond - an obligation - between them.
As they have undergone such pain on his behalf, he should feel a debt to protect them going into the future. This also signals their attractiveness as a future wife, and it becomes a kind of competition, with women refusing to back down and vowing to each endure the most pain. On the other hand, the requests of girls who do not participate in the whipping may be ignored in the future.
Finally, seven to ten castrated bulls are lined up in a row by the men of the tribe. In the midst of an electric atmosphere and a cacophony of bells and horns, the man must leap up onto, and run over, the several-deep row of cattle 4 times without falling. If he falls, he fails the ceremony and must try again in a year’s time.
Turmi region, Ethiopia, 2024