The World’s Most Dangerous Cultural Traditions

Scarification

Photo Credit: Francis CHAVEROU/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

In Papua New Guinea, a tribe practices the brutal rite of passage practice known as Kaningara. It is a body modification tradition that is performed on adolescent boys as they transition into manhood. For two months, the adolescence live in seclusion in a “Spirit House” until it is time for their initiation.

When the time comes, an expert cutter makes hundreds of cuts all over their body with a sharp piece of bamboo. This way, when the skin is healed, the scars resemble the skin of a crocodile. They do this since they believe that crocodiles are the creator of humans. So the cutting symbolizes a crocodile eating the boy and becoming a man.

See how a town’s tradition in England became a world-renowned event.