Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage






Rites of Passage
Rebecca Garner
ANT 101
Dr. Katie Bojakowski
September 23, 2013














In times we see many different cultures that evolved around the earth and throughout time as well. This paper will examine Native Americans, Greek and the Japanese rites of passage.
Ceremonies that mark important transitional periods in a person's life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, having children, and death. Rites of passage usually involve ritual activities and teachings designed to strip individuals of their original roles and prepare them for new roles. The traditional American wedding ceremony is such a rite of passage. In many so-called primitive societies, some of the most complex rites of passage occur at puberty, when boys and girls are initiated into the adult world. In some ceremonies, the initiates are removed from their village and may undergo physical mutilation before returning as adults (Rites of passage,(n.d.).
Rites of Passage have been a path of life throughout time and space. Anthropologists have found many differences between cultures but also many similatries. Rites of passage from boy to man or girl to woman are different in some and strange in others. The Native Americans and the Greeks were not the same as the Japanese, but yet believed in some of the same old blood ways. Rites are not taught but learned throughout one’s lifetime.
Native Americans had a volatile version of passage. In the earlier years, the Native American boys would play as boys. They would follow fathers and love mothers. They would show you what life had to offer and defend what was theirs. In ancient times, to become a man you must show skills in fighting, survival, forging and pride. Fight would be known as how to protect them from danger and protect the tribe. Basically, what we call being a warrior or soldier in modern time. A young boy must face a battle with someone older to show the father and the chiefs that he was ready to...

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