There still remains today a few remote civilisations around the world practicing bizarre cult-like rituals and ceremonies, which we in the ‘civilised world’ may consider to be extremely strange and barbaric. Turning young boys in to ‘Crocodile Men’ is one such spiritual ‘right-of-passage’ performed by the Chambri Tribe of Papua New Guinea, that can well be considered to fit quite aptly in to such category.
The banks of Sepik River in eastern PNG are home to many large and dangerous saltwater crocodiles, which live in close proximity to the jungle inhabiting people of the Chambri tribe. The Chambri through their ancient beliefs have come to pay reverence to these creatures every four to five years, through a ceremony where-by the young men of the tribe, between the ages of 11 and 20 years old take the right-of-passage moving from boyhood to man.
The Crocodile ritual involves scratching deeply in to the boys skin in order to create permanent scarification welts. Tribal elders cut deeply into the boys backs, chests, and buttocks creating patterns in the skin resembling that of a crocodiles hide. These scratches, or marks, also represent the teeth marks of a crocodile as it consumes the young man. This ancient practice is not only extremely painful but can also be very dangerous due to potential life-threatening infections.
The Haus Tambaran preparation hut, also called the Spirit House is a sacred place where young men are prepared for the upcoming ceremony The entire space from the floor, walls, and ceiling is believed to be inhabited by their ancestral spirits. All items inside the house, such as masks and paintings, are also believed to be inhabited by the spirits as well. The purpose of time spent in the Haus Tambaran is to remove men from any aspect of the women in the tribe. Therefore the Chambri females are never allowed inside these walls. Once they have completed their time inside the Spirit House, the ceremony will take place.
Once this extremely painful ceremony is over the men are believed to then be empowered with the spirit of the crocodile forever onwards.